Nothing Rhymes with 'Circus'
by xonthefloor
Summary: Dave is just a humble young man whose only expectation from life is having somewhere to sleep at night, until he's invited to join a unique travelling circus where he'll meet people with extraordinary abilities. AU set in the late 30s.
1. Prologue

**Title:** Nothing Rhymes with Circus. Prologue.  
**Author:** **xonthefloor**  
**Pairing:** Dave Karofsky/Kurt Hummel.  
**Rating:** PG for this chapter.  
**Warnings:** None.  
**Beta:** Ella!  
**Word Count:** 56oo this chapter.  
**Genre:** Supernatural/Romance/Angst/Drama.  
**Disclaimer:** Pfht, if I owned Glee, Blaine wouldn't be on it.  
**Summary:** Dave is just a humble young man whose only expectation from life is having somewhere to sleep at night. Everything changes when he's invited to join a very unique travelling circus where he'll meet a group of very peculiar people, discovering that he's not what you could call a regular guy.  
**A/N:** This is a complete AU and time fic, that takes place in the late 30s. I'm trying to be as accurate as I can with things the way they were back then, but I apologize if something is not exactly the way it was back in the late 30s.

* * *

**Prologue.**

William walks on the side of a completely empty road, under the burning sun. He took off his jacket a couple of miles ago, then that wasn't enough so he rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned his waistcoat. It's still damn hot. It doesn't matter if he has his hat on or not, his head is still on fire.

He's expecting to at least find one car or truck that could give him a ride to the nearest gas station. It wouldn't be the first time in his life he's had to hitchhike, but so far he's had no luck. Not because no one offered him a ride, but because within the last hour not even one car has passed by on this road.

He knows it's his own fault. He should have checked the gas meter _before_ his car started running on fumes. Sadly, William came to that realization when his truck stopped completely, after letting out some loud and scary sounds.

So now his truck is abandoned several miles back while William walks down the road, hoping to find _something._ A car, a gas station, a truck stop… he doesn't even care about the gas anymore. He would kill just for a glass of water. Not literally, but he certainly would do anything to have something to drink.

His eyes light up when he spots what seems to be a small gas station in the distance. William lets out a loud, desperate laugh. It could be just a mirage fueled by his thirst but right then not even his aching, weary feet could stop him from breaking into a jog to get closer to the image. His smile grows even wider as he gets closer to the shadowy impression, realizing that it is indeed small gas station. His mind wasn't playing tricks on him after all.

As he keeps walking forwards, William does his best to put his thoughts in order, trying to plan his next move. He has only three dollars in his pocket. The whole idea behind driving to Columbus's racecourse was actually to win some money to get by on until their next show. Last Sunday, Kurt said he was going to win today. William frowns at that thought, taking out his pocket watch and noticing that the race has ended already.

Kurt is never inaccurate.

William rolls his eyes at his own stupidity when he remembers that the last time he saw Kurt was two days ago. Only in passing; William always tries to stay away from Kurt in order to not make things any worse. But they did run into each other early in the morning at the costumes trailer. William was walking out while Kurt was walking in. They merely greeted each other with a small nod, as usual. But then suddenly Kurt grabbed him by his arm, and said out of blue. "Please, remember to fill up your truck with gas."

After saying said that, Kurt went on his way. Kurt's behavior wasn't odd to William, so he also continued with what he had intended to do next, which was to meet Sam, Noah, Artie, and Quinn to talk about their rehearsal schedule; William completely forgot about Kurt's words.

So it's not that Kurt was inaccurate. William is simply an idiot.

But the main thing is that William is walking towards the gas station with the small amount he had planned to use for betting. Money is tight, as usual. Running a circus where you have to feed fourteen people, plus a tiger, and still have money to buy gas to move thirteen trucks with fourteen trailers attached around the country is not an easy task, especially in the current economy.

William is not sure if he should spend the little money he has on gas and a soda, or if he should keep it until the show next weekend in Aurora. If there's some kind of emergency, they could need that money. William always hates having to persuade people to get what he needs, but if something big comes up and they are out of money, they could be in a tight spot. Maybe this time persuading someone just to get a little gas and a soda wouldn't be so dishonest. William is in need, and ultimately he can always return when he has more money and pay it back. It wouldn't be the first time he's done that.

When he finally gets to the gas station, William looks around and realizes there's no one to be seen. He hurries to find some shade under the roof, which is set between the store and the only two gas pumps that the station has. An old truck that has seen better days is parked by the store's side and the building itself looks completely ramshackle. The paint on the walls is falling off, but William's eyes are drawn to the rusty sign advertising Coca-Cola in an old fashioned ice box; his mouth waters a bit. He steps closer to the ice box, chancing a glance inside to look for a drink but the machine is not only empty but also unplugged.

"Hello?" William calls out, leaning against the window of the store, hoping to see someone there; he can certainly hear a radio on inside. "Is anybody there?" William sees some movement inside the store and he quickly steps back, fixing his clothes in order to look as presentable as he can; even if that's something hard to achieve when you've been walking an hour along a dusty road, with the sun burning the top of your head.

A young man walks out. William stares at him, and notices that this young man can't be any older than his kids. _'His kids.' _William reminds to himself that he needs to stop calling them that since none of them are his children, even if he feel like he's everyone's father. But in any case, this guy is big; bulky, with broad shoulders, and taller than William himself. He's dark haired, with some curls here and there, but in spite of his strong look, he seems quite young. He is also wearing an old pair of brown trousers, dark shoes, a stained white wife-beater and suspenders. William instantly assumes he's just an employee and not the owner, but ultimately that's irrelevant. Even more so when he sees the man is holding a bottle of Coke in his hand. The only thing William has to do is ask for it, but no matter how thirsty William is, he has manners.

Or something like that. There's only a certain amount of manners you can have if you're someone like William Schuester.

The young man looks to behind William and then directly at him. "Hello, can I help you?" he asks grumpily. "Especially since you don't seem to have a car," he points out.

William laughs. "Good afternoon, young man," he greets the other man pleasantly, "My truck ran out of gas some miles back," he explains, pointing at the road.

The employee arches a brow like he's surprised. "You walked all the way down here? It's a damn hot day."

"Believe me, I know," he states, stepping closer to the other man. William carefully places his hand on the young man's bare arm and says quietly: "Please, give me that drink."

His heart almost stops when the young man frowns at him, instead of handing over the drink right away as he should have done by now.

"There are still a few left in the store you can buy."

William grows instantly uneasy. This has never happened before to him; not even once in his life. He always hates having to persuade people to get what he wants; that's reason he hardly ever does it, unless it's strictly necessary. His ability is always in conflict with his morals, and more than once, William felt it was a curse. But suddenly it's gone, something has happened and William feels he's almost naked and lost. He quickly tries to put his thoughts in order, but now the situation is completely different. Nevertheless, William still needs to go back Fairview where his kids are staying.

Just in case, he makes another request before breaking physical contact with the employee. "Could you give me a bit of free gas?"

The young man snorts. "Sorry, sir. It's not my station. My boss would kill me if I did that."

William removes his hand from the young man's arm as if it burned him. His mind is reeling but he tries to remain calm. It's hard though. Why isn't it working? How long has his ability been gone? He never manipulated his kids' will, and lately he's only been surrounded by them. But he did persuade a lot of people to go to see their show when they performed in Springfield two weeks ago. What on earth happened to him between then and now?

"Are you alright?" The voice of the young man breaks his train of thought.

William blinks, and then he smiles. "I'm sorry. I'm… I'm finding myself in a predicament right now. See, I was heading to Columbus when my car ran out of gas, and I hardly have any money with me. I have no way to contact my people in order to get a ride or money to buy gas, or even a drink, although I'm probably very dehydrated."

The young man chuckles, gazing at his own drink, "Man, have this. You probably need it more than I do. I would offer you some water, but you wouldn't want to drink that. When you open the faucets, first some mud comes out and then brown water."

William looks warily at the drink but takes it anyway because he's way too thirsty. Maybe his power of persuasion somehow acquired a delayed effect?

He drinks the whole soda in one go. The cold drink coming down his throat feels like heaven, and once he empties the bottle, he catches the employee staring at him, amused.

"Oh, where are my manners? Thanks a lot for this. I'm William Schuester, by the way," he introduces himself, extending is hand to the young man.

"David Karofsky. Dave," he replies, shaking William's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Dave."

"Listen, I can't really give you free gas," Dave tells him. "My salary is pretty low, and my boss takes the cost of anything that's missing from my paycheck. But there's a phone inside. I'm not sure if it works; I never used it. But if you want to try…"

William presses his lips tight. His kids are nowhere near a phone.

"I… I guess that wouldn't help. My people are currently staying in Fairview, but we're set up in a open field. It's nowhere near a phone. I'm part of a traveling circus," William informs him. "The New Directions Circus."

"Never heard of it, but it sounds fun," Dave says casually but not showing as much excitement as people typically do when William tells them he's part of a circus.

"It is, actually."

Dave scratches the back of his head like he's thinking about something, and William only stares at him, hoping this young man will help him somehow.

"Fairview is not far from here. I mean, it's a long distance to walk, but it's only half an hour by car. Maybe less," Dave notes. "Columbus is tough, that's far. I can't give you anything for free, but I could give you a ride to Fairview."

William can't help showing a grateful smile. It's not much, but in his current situation, that's something huge.

"But you're the only one working here? I wouldn't want to get you in trouble if someone shows up…"

Dave chuckles. "This road is dead. You really picked the worst way to drive to Columbus. You're the first customer I've have in three days."

"Your boss won't mind?"

Dave snorts. "That bastard shows up once every two weeks - maybe - to pick up the profits and take money from my salary. He dropped by the day before yesterday. Showing up twice in the same week is definitely something he wouldn't do. He won't know that I was gone for less than an hour."

"Then I gladly accept your help."

Dave nods and disappears inside the store. William fidgets in place, trying to figure out where he's going from here. His truck is abandoned in the middle of the road, and the fact that he didn't get any money from the bet he never made is now the least of his worries. Suddenly his worries start and end with the inability to persuade people. And he has to work it out on his own. When his kids have problems, they go to him; but William is in charge of his kids' welfare, and he's responsible for them. What's he going to do if he can't take care of them? Of course, to a large degree he takes care of them without using his ability, but that ability is William's last resource in an emergency and the circus is in need far too often for it to just disappear.

Dave walks out of the store carrying a chain and a big lock. He locks the door , and motions William to follow him. They get into the old truck that William saw parked by the side of the station. When Dave turns the engine on, the truck lets out a painful roar. William wonders suddenly if they will make it to Fairview.

Apparently, Dave catches William's concerned face. "It lets out some scary sounds, but it's never let me down."

"I'll take your word for that."

As they hit the road, they start a polite conversation. Actually, Dave brings up the circus, which doesn't surprise William, since circus performers are not something people encounter every day.

"So a circus, huh?"

William smiles courteously. "A circus, indeed."

"What do you do? I mean, do you juggle stuff or throws knives or something?"

"I'm the host, actually; the M.C. We don't have a juggler, but Mike is our knife thrower."

Dave nods. "That sounds fun. I've never been in a circus, but I've seen street posters announcing them and stuff. People usually like them."

"Thankfully, people like our circus."

"Where's your next show?"

"Aurora, next weekend."

"Must be weird, uh? A traveling circus; you get to see all different parts of the country… and, boy, circus people! I bet you have plenty of crazy stories."

William lets out a small laugh. "Actually, it ends up being an ordinary life. After a while, being in three different cities within a week and seeing Finn spitting fire or Brittany sticking her head inside her tiger's mouth stops being surprising."

"That sounds pretty crazy to me."

Before long, they spot William's truck parked on the side of the road. It's almost painful to realize that he walked over an hour, a distance that is easily covered with not even ten minutes of driving.

"That's your truck?" Dave asks as they pass it by.

"Yeah, I wonder if someone will steal it."

"Nah, I told you no one uses this road. Listen, I have a stud link in the back. I can tow it to the station on my way back," Dave offers. "You can pick it up later. Since it's a traveling circus, I assume you have plenty of cars, so you can come back with someone, either to tow it or to fill it up with gas if you get money."

William tilts his head to the side, considering it. Apparently, he's going to have to spend his money one way or the other and to pray that none of his kids has an accident or falls sick or something before their next show. But after all, their next show is three days away and it's not like bad things happen to them often. Still, William doesn't like to tempt fate since bad things usually happen at the worst moments.

"Your car will be safe," Dave says, interrupting William's thoughts. "I can be a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

"Oh, no! Sorry! I wasn't thinking that," William hurries to say. "I was about to accept your offer, but I spaced out. I was just thinking about who could drive me to the station before we hit the road again."

"Oh."

"I really appreciate your help. If you could tow my truck, it would certainly put my mind at ease. Otherwise I'd spend the day wondering if someone _had_ stolen it. I guess I could pick it up tomorrow before we head to Aurora."

Dave nods again. "Whatever suits you best. Your truck will be at the station. I'm the only employee so nothing will happen to it."

It only takes them about fifteen minutes to reach the circus camp. As usual, William and his people decided to camp in an open field, a little way off the road. Staying at motels is always expensive, considering how many of them there are. They stay at the municipal fairgrounds sometimes, but only on performance nights or when they need to use the showers. He and his kids feel better when they are outside the towns and away from people. No one ever gives them trouble for camping in such out of the way places, even if it's not strictly allowed. And the few times that local authorities told them they weren't allowed to camp somewhere, William politely asked the officials to pay no attention to them.

is always handy.

"That's the place?" Dave asks pointing at the group of cars, trailers and trucks parked away from the road in an open field.

"That would be it."

Dave turns, leaving the road and driving on the field in direction of the camp.

"Oh, that wasn't… I could have walked," William says, even as he feels grateful for Dave's kind gesture. The camp is far from the road and William's feet are killing him.

"You walked enough. It's no big deal to drive you this last bit," Dave replies with a flat tone.

They end up parking near the trailers. William gets out of the car and walks around to the driver's-side door. "I really appreciate your help. I'll probably show up at the station later today or tomorrow to get my truck."

Dave nods nonchalantly. "Your truck will be there, so there's no need to worry about that. Whenever you can pick it up, it's fine by me."

"William is everything alright? We saw a strange truck driving here and got a bit worried."

William turns around to find Noah walking towards him with Rachel jogging right behind. They both stop in front of Dave's truck, giving it a suspicious look. "Yes. My truck ran out of gas; this nice young man offered me a ride."

He sees Rachel gazing at Dave and her eyes snapped open. She covers her mouth with her hands. Then her wide-eyed gaze shifts to William, then to Noah, and she lets out a high pitched squeak "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

William and Noah look at her, concerned, because Rachel is normally subtle and doesn't show any emotion when she reads someone else's mind, so as not to raise suspicion. Noah approaches her carefully, as her face shows nothing but despair and worry. "What's going on?" he asks, gazing at Dave.

Inevitably, William gives Dave a wary look since he assumes that Rachel read something really bad inside Dave's head. If it wasn't that bad, Rachel would have at least concealed her reaction.

"You circus people are weird," Dave points out flatly. "I'll tow your truck on my way back. As I said, whenever you can pick it up, it will be there."

"Thank you," William replies, since no matter how much of a mess his head is right now, no one needs to find out about what he or his kids can do. He has to remain casual. "I really appreciate all you've done for me."

"No problem. See you around."

"I can't read anything! I can't see anything!" Rachel whispers to him and Noah while Dave is busy turning his engine on.

William's blood turns cold. He can't persuade people; Rachel can't read people's minds…

"Noah, try to lift her," William mutters hurriedly to him. Noah frowns, but picks her up in the air. It was stupid, since Noah is someone who could lift Rachel up with or without super strength, but surely he will be able to tell the difference.

"She's a bit _heavier _than usual…" Noah's words trail off, and he put her back on the ground.

Dave starts driving away in direction of the road and William blurts out: "It's not working with me either. I thought it was only me, but now you… I don't know what's happening, but I couldn't persuade him and-"

"It's back! It's back!" Rachel cuts him off, a big smile on her face. "You tried to persuade him to give you free gas and a soda," Rachel says, reading William's thoughts.

William blinks. That's exactly what he was about to say. What the hell was going on?

Immediately, Noah holds Rachel and lifts her in the air again, letting out a relieved laugh. "Light as a feather again! What the hell just happened, Will? What _was_ that? It really scared the hell out of me."

William remains silent, doing his best to understand what's happening to him; to them. He doesn't want to persuade his kids, but he needs to see if his ability is still intact, like Noah and Rachel's seem to be.

"I need to try," William says remorsefully.

Rachel gives him a sympathetic look. "It's okay, William, we don't mind, unless you asked us to do something that hurt one of us and we know you'd never do that. I just had an argument with Mercedes and I don't want to apologize, even though I know I should. But you know how proud I am, right? So help me to overcome it for now, and to make Mercedes feel better. I shouldn't have said that her new costume made her look like an elephant. I was just jealous, I wanted an outfit just like hers," Rachel admits apologetically. "And I thought maybe if she didn't wear it, Kurt could alter it to fit me."

William shakes his head doubtfully but he holds Rachel by her arm and tells her: "Rachel, go and apologize to Mercedes. Tell her that she looked gorgeous and you were just jealous."

Rachel stares at him with empty eyes. A small grin forms in William's face seeing that his ability is working again. He releases her from his grip and Rachel blinks, smiling at them. "Guys, I have to go to apologize to Mercedes. I said something awful to her," she says, walking away, heading to Mercedes' trailer.

Noah snorts. "Women," he grumbles, turning to William and frowning. "What's going on, Will?"

William has no answer for Noah; he's just as confused. "I don't know. I noticed a problem when I was at the gas station. I didn't want to spend the little money I had on gas and a soda. I couldn't get to the racecourse, by the way, so it's all the money we have left until Saturday. But anyway, I couldn't persuade the boy."

Then William looks to the road and sees Dave's truck disappearing on the distance. He gasps, but then he laughs as he puts two and two together.

"What?"

"I think it's him."

Noah frowns again. "What, the guy with the truck? I think he's no good, Will. Rachel saw something bad in him-"

"No. She didn't see anything," William states and grows excited as he puts his thoughts into order. "She got scared because she _couldn't_ read him! Then she couldn't see anything in us, and you actually had to exert some small effort to pick her up!"

Noah gives him a long look, but William has never been so relieved and excited in his life. Not every day do you get to run into someone who is like them.

"So you're saying he can like… _cancel _what we do?"

William starts walking towards the trailers. If he's right about David Karofsky, someone could have gotten hurt. He doesn't know the range of Dave's apparent ability. Rachel could read minds again when he was almost gone, but if Brittany was with Lily and close enough to Dave to be _canceled__, _or if Mike was trying his aim on someone, or if Sebastian was rehearsing his act… someone could have gotten seriously hurt at the sudden disappearance of their abilities.

Noah follows him around, and William does his best to figure out what to say. "Maybe, I'm not sure. But I was with him and I couldn't persuade him, right? Then he's with you two, and you suddenly can't do what you do. Yet once he left, we were all back to normal. He's the only one that connects us three."

William sees Brittany coming out of her trailer, and waves to her. He finds Mike, Quinn, and Sebastian sitting at a table in front of Mercedes' trailer having lunch. William can't hear any screams and no one is running to him worried or hurt.

Maybe no one was using their abilities at just that moment, or trying to and realizing they were gone. Maybe they weren't close enough to Dave to lose their abilities. William can't tell definitively, but he's almost sure that Dave was the answer to this sudden mess.

"Have you ever seen something like that?"

William shakes his head. "I've heard of people who could do that. Never been with one, and I don't think he's aware of what he can do."

"But that's it, right? We never see him again and we'll have no problem."

And though that would probably be the safest thing to do, William is not sure it's the right thing to do. The main intention of the circus is to give his kids a better environment to be who they are, regardless their race, sexuality or their unusual gifts. Yes, some of them can pass for regular kids, but others can hardly function around regular people. The only ones who know about the existence of people with extraordinary abilities are the people with extraordinary abilities. Even the families of some of his kids are not aware of what their children can do. People like them try to pass unnoticed and conceal their gifts from the world.

In this circus, though, they don't feel like freaks, since they are surrounded by people who are just like them. They have a job where they can take advantage of their gifts without raising suspicions. Overall, they all are happy, they feel supported and encouraged, rather than reviled. Above all, they function as a big family, none of them is alone.

No matter what his ability is, Dave is one of them. There are not many people like them around, and William believes it wouldn't be fair to leave Dave behind. Sure, Dave doesn't seem to know that he can do something no one else can. Dave probably doesn't even know that there are people in the world who can do these seemingly impossible things

And considering what Dave apparently can do, it is even less likely he has ever met anyone special like William or his kids. Even if he did run into someone like them, it would just be a repeat of what happened with William, Rachel and Noah. If Dave can indeed cancel special abilities, then he would never see someone using those abilities.

"You're not thinking about having him join us, right?" Noah asks, and William stares at him since he had forgotten that Noah is still there with him. "It's dangerous, Will. We couldn't even perform if he's around."

William doesn't believe in dangerous abilities; not in bad ones or useless ones either. Special people like them tended to say that there are better and worse abilities, but William thinks they've got it all wrong. He knows there are dangerous people; bad, useless people. What you use you gifts for, and how you use them – that's the key.

William has heard about Dave's supposed ability before. If he could teach Dave to master it, the possibilities boggle the mind. Dave doesn't have to be a danger to them. Maybe having someone like Dave around could even benefit their circus. William can't help thinking about Kurt. Or the Dalton guys.

But most importantly, if Dave is one of them, William doesn't think it would be right to conceal his true nature from him. If William does nothing, Dave will probably go on with his life, never getting to know that he's part of a select group of people, a group he actually belongs to.

"I don't know, Noah. I have to go back to the station where he works to pick up my truck," William tells him, considering what he's going to do. "I should probably speak with the guys first about it. But I think I should talk to him as well."

Noah doesn't look very pleased about that. William can't blame him. First of all, the kids are always a little reluctant to receive new people. Their group has grown pretty much hermetic. And someone like Dave means they will have to take a lot of precautions.

"Can you tell the guys I need them together for a meeting?"

Noah sighs. "After lunch?"

"That would be perfect."

"You talk to Kurt later. I know this is kind of a big deal, but I won't make him go to any meeting," Noah tells him in a protective tone of voice, the same they all use when they talk about Kurt.

William smiles. "No, not Kurt of course. And I think it would be wise if, for now, he doesn't hear about Dave, alright?"

Noah chuckles. "You can't be serious. Actually, the only good thing about having someone like that guy around is Kurt could at least have some peace for awhile. Hmm, think about that, Will. He could actually have lunch with all of us, for the first damn time!"

"I know, Noah. I know. But until we know for sure what Dave will do, I think it's better if Kurt doesn't know. As you said, it would mean a lot for Kurt to have someone like Dave around and it wouldn't be fair to introduce them, only to have Dave decide to take off the next day."

"I guess you're right," Noah says, gloomily. "I'll tell the guys about the meeting."

Noah walks away and William heads to his trailer.

His kids will probably be quite reluctant about someone new joining their group, especially if that person is someone like Dave. But it's that way every time someone new joins them. Later they act like brothers and sisters, and William doesn't doubt that his kids will be very supportive with Dave.

William has to think about the arrangements necessary to have Dave around. First of all, he needs a trailer and that's okay since they can use Blaine's. They've been using it to store random stuff since he left. But the trailer has to be far from everybody else's', just like Kurt's.

The kids can't go without their abilities for the whole day, so Dave can't always hang around. They will also need to start being more cautious. Brittany will have to let Dave know when she's going to be with Lily, just like Mike will have to let him know if he'll be practicing his aim, and the same if Sam, Mercedes, Artie, Noah, Sebastian or Quinn are going to be rehearsing their acts. They need to create a better schedule. And, at least for now, Dave won't be allowed to attend the shows.

_If _Dave wants to join them, of course. William shouldn't be making so many plans yet, since Dave could choose not to join the circus. After all, young people tended to think being part of a circus must be the most exciting thing in the world, but Dave seemed only mildly excited about it. Maybe he's just not a very expressive person.

Anyway, he has to talk to his kids first. Tomorrow, he will talk to Dave and then they'll plan what comes next.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Dave taps his foot in time to the rhythm of the swing music. The radio is playing Benny Goodman's _Sing, Sing, Sing_ and Dave loves that song.

Working at the gas station may be boring as hell, but he can't complain much. It's the first job he's ever kept for more than three months. He usually doesn't last over two weeks, either because stores file for bankruptcy, firing everyone, or because Dave talks back to his bosses. This is definitely not the best job in the world, but it's better than having to get up early to see if he can pick up some construction work or some other temporary day job, or being completely unemployed like so many people are these days.

His boss is a greasy bastard who's never around, but it's not that bad since for the first time in ages, Dave doesn't have to sleep in his truck. So far Mr. Cameron hasn't noticed that Dave is sleeping in the store, on some blankets behind the bar. Dave thinks he'll be able to keep doing that, mostly because his boss will never consider getting up that early in the morning just to pick up the gas station's meager profits.

Dave has hardly any money, so he eats and drinks what the store sells. He actually drinks more than he eats; most of the food and snacks that the store sells have expired long ago. But it's not like Dave has anywhere else to go at night, and the station is several miles away from the nearest town. It's pointless to waste gas to go somewhere to buy something he can get from this store. So that's what he uses his small salary for - pouring money back into the store he manages and sleeps in, because he pays for everything he eats and drinks. The radio is his only companion, since he doesn't really get to talk to anyone.

It doesn't matter, really; life has taught Dave not to ask for much.

Trying to kill the time until closing, Dave grabs the broom, sweeping the dust on the floor into a small pile, then out the door. In spite of its ruined look, the place is clean, since Dave often sweeps, mops and dusts in order to pass the time. Nothing exciting tends to happen at a gas station with hardly any customers located in the middle of a deserted road that connects two incredibly boring towns. The most exciting thing that happened to Dave since he started working here was yesterday when the the owner of a circus dropped by; well, that and the day he found a nest of spiders behind the ice box. Scary, but definitely something Dave hadn't seen before.

William Schuester seemed strangely normal for someone working at a circus, but Dave supposes he isn't one to judge. And the circus owner broke the store's four day streak going without a single customer; Dave should be celebrating.

_Sing, Sing, Sing _ends and is followed by some song by Fletcher Henderson that Dave can't remember the name of. The sound of a car approaching interrupts his thoughts and Dave walks outside hoping for a customer_. _He sticks his hands inside the pockets of his trousers; grinning to himself he sees that the car is slowing down as it gets close to the station.

Definitely a customer.

Second later, Dave realizes that it's not just a customer. He spots William Schuester driving a dirty but well cared for Chevrolet 36' Master Deluxe. Owning a circus must have its benefits if he can afford a car that has only been on the market for two years. Dave nods to himself at that thought. It's impressive how much he has learned about cars within the past few months, considering how few customers he got. He blames the car magazines Mr. Cameron had in the store. Before that, the most Dave knew was how to tell the obvious differences between a car and a truck.

Dave can't help noticing as the car draws closer that Schuester is not alone. Sitting in the passenger seat is the same girl who acted so strangely the previous day. Dave assumes Schuester is going to buy some gas. Otherwise, he would have come on his own to tow his truck.

The dusty black car parks in front of the station, and Schuester and the girl get out. Schuester looks just like he did yesterday and while Dave can't remember what the girl was wearing the day before, he notices that today she has her hair fixed in perfect curls. She's also wearing a black hat and white gloves, and a nice looking blue dress that goes to her knees. She's holding a small purse. Very expensive looking considering she's a girl who works in a circus. If Dave didn't know she's part of a circus, he would think she's just a girl from a big city. The girl smiles strangely at him as they approach, and Dave frowns to himself, but decides not to pay any attention to her weirdness.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Schuester." Dave says politely. He's not the most educated guy in the world, but he does know how to show respect and greet people properly.

The other man smiles. "Please, call me William or Will. I see my truck is here safe and sound."

Dave nods. "Yup, just like I told you it would be." He catches the girl giving William a knowing smile at which Dave grows puzzled. This girl is really weird.

"Hi! My name is Rachel Berry," she introduces herself, extending her hand to him. Dave frowns slightly, but shakes her hand.

"David Karofsky."

"We met yesterday but I didn't have time to introduce myself, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Dave mumbles. Considering how strangely she was acting yesterday, she likely forgot to introduce herself, but Dave forces himself to not ask any questions. After all, they are strangers to him, and you don't usually ask people questions if you don't know them.

"So you're filling your tank?" Dave inquires.

"Yes. That's right," William replies with a kind smile in his face.

Dave nods, and goes back inside the store to look for a gas can, since they won't be able to park William's truck near to the pumps. He picks up the first one he finds, and when he walks outside, William and Rachel seem to be having a suspicious conversation. Or at least Dave thinks so, since they are talking in whispers and they shut their mouths as soon as they see him coming back. They're suddenly smiling widely.

"I'll fill this up," Dave says cautiously.

He doesn't believe they are going to rob him or something, but they're definitely acting odd. Dave starts filling the gas can and no one says a word, even though William and Rachel are still smiling at him like they want to say something.

Dave doesn't ask, though. He finishes filling the can and then walks over to William's truck and fills the tank.

"So David… do you like working in here?" Rachel asks, out of nowhere.

It's a weird question to ask, or at least Dave thinks so, since they hardly know each other, but it's a conversation at least. "I've worked in worst places. Could be better, but I'm not complaining. I could have no job at all."

He turns around, and catches Rachel nudging William. "See, I was talking with the guys from the circus, and we kind of need some extra help."

Dave quirks an eyebrow, slightly interested. Are they actually offering him a job in the circus?

"Is that so?" Dave asks.

"We all tend to pitch in," Rachel says. "Putting up the tent and carrying stuff around. It's hard work, but there are enough of us to get it done. But we could seriously use an extra pair of hands. This seems like quite a lonely job, but in the circus you'd have plenty of people around, and probably have more fun."

Dave processes her words in his head. He has never been a people person, having himself a more reticent nature. But after working three months at this station, he's started missing human interaction. He's not sure how many people work in William's circus, but Dave saw quite a few trailers parked in their camp.

It didn't seem to be much fun, probably because they weren't performing or doing anything out of ordinary, but it could definitely be better than spending his days all alone in the station.

For starters, there are people.

"We couldn't pay much," William says, chuckling a bit. "As you could see yesterday, we don't really have much money. We spend most of it to run the circus: feeding everyone, buying gas for all of our cars. We even have a tiger to feed." Dave raises his eyebrows. Working close to a tiger sounds like something that can never get boring. "We do pay, though," William continues, "even if it's only a little. But we can offer a place to stay every night. Your own trailer, although it's pretty small, almost like a traveling room. Food every day, traveling all around the country, new friends…"

Dave finds himself actually considering it as William's voice trails off. William and Rachel don't look like they are conning him. And the offer doesn't sound bad at all. He already gets almost no money from his current job, and it all goes to pay for his food and for a place to sleep at night, albeit secretly. William spoke of the trailer like it was something unappealing but Dave has been sleeping in his truck ever since when he won it in a bet a couple of years ago. Now he sleeps in the store. Neither is a comfortable place, considering he's too big to lay down in car and the floor of the store is too damn hard.

A trailer of his own would definitely be the closest thing to a proper room that he's had in a very long time.

He also wouldn't go days without seeing another soul, plus there's the traveling to consider. Dave has never stuck around one place for long, going from town to town to get a job and then moving on, so this actually sounded appealing.

"So I'd be like, the handyman or something?"

William tilts his head. "You could say so. Later you may have the chance to perform if you want. We usually end up doing that. Even if people don't have any apparent talents, if they're interested we always find a place for them in our acts. It usually just takes time to get used to performing in front of an audience."

Dave has never considered being in a show; he doesn't like being the center of attention. But William said that he'd be in the show _if _he wants to perform, so he won't necessarily have to do it.

And Dave has worked as a handyman lots of times, since he's quite big and strong. Being a handyman for a circus, or even fetching food for the tiger, can't be any worse than the construction jobs he's had over the years.

"If you can and want to, of course," Rachel points out. "We don't want to get you in trouble with your boss."

"Pfft, I doubt he'll even notice I'm gone until next week. I could leave a note or something," Dave says. "He'll just be mad about having to hire someone new. Or working himself. The guy is unbelievably lazy."

"That means you'll join us?" William asks hopefully.

"Yeah, I think I'll do it," Dave says, nodding, and he's surprised to realize that he feels almost happy for the first time in a long time.

Rachel claps her hands together, squealing, and Dave stares at her. Do they make this much fuss every time they get a new handyman? If so, they probably need help very badly…

"You're tank is filled," Dave announces. "When do you want me at the campsite?"

"Oh, whenever it's best for you. We don't want to cause any problems for you," William replies. "If you have to let your family know you're leaving or if you need to go to your place to pick your stuff. You might need to make some kind of arrangement with your landlord. We're heading to Aurora tomorrow, and-"

"I don't have to do that much," Dave cuts him off. The sooner he can abandon this depressing job to join the circus, the better. "I have no family to inform, and no place to stay, therefore I have no landlord, either. I actually sleep in the store. All my stuff is in my truck."

Rachel and William's enthusiastic faces fall, and Dave doesn't know if they suddenly distrust him or pity him. Hopefully his orphan/homeless state won't mean losing of his brand new job.

"Well, I guess that means you could join us today or tomorrow?" Rachel asks, smiling again and trying to break the tension.

Dave shrugs. "If it's not a problem for you. I only have to leave a note to my boss and close the store, since all my belongings are in the truck. If Mr. Cameron gets mad at me, it's not like he'll be able to find me to yell at me."

William grins. "That's sooner than I expected, but it's fine because I was hoping you could join us as soon as possible. Rachel, why don't you go ahead and tell the guys I'm coming back with a new member?"

Rachel's eyes go wide but then she nods knowingly. "I'd better do that. You won't regret this, David. Our circus is actually the best place in the world for people like us."

Dave frowns in confusion. 'People like us?' He doesn't even have time to ask what she means since she's already turning on her heels and getting into her car.

"I'll go to grab my stuff."

"Oh, here's the money of the gas," William hands him the money. Dave takes it and goes back to the store.

He doesn't have much inside, since he didn't want to leave any hint for Mr. Cameron that he's been living in there. The greasy bastard would have probably made him pay rent if he found out. So Dave gets a paper and a pen, and writes a simple note: 'I quit. The money is in the cash register.'

He puts the money Will gave him into the register, along with the rest of the store's meager profits. Then he grabs his blankets and his jacket. Lastly, he collects the chain and lock on his way out. William's still waiting for him, standing by the side of his truck. Dave puts all his stuff in the back of his truck, and then he closes the store.

"That's it?"

Dave nods. "That's it."

"You follow my truck. Once we're there, I'll introduce you to everyone and we should probably talk about your arrangements. Is that alright?"

"That sounds good to me."

William gets in his truck, and Dave pulls out of the parking lot behind him, heading back to the camp site. It's been a long time since he felt excited about something. He hasn't had the easiest life, and he's gotten very used to not expecting good things to happen to him. Dave's version of 'luck' pretty much amounted to someone mistaking him for an old drinking buddy and buying him a beer, or getting lucky with a random girl at some bar. Or, if he is really, _really_ lucky, he may even get to hook up with a guy. Unfortunately, his job at the isolated gas station has kind of dampened his social life as of late.

But this actually sounds really promising.

Dave smiles to himself as he drives behind William's truck, marveling slightly at the unusual anxiousness he feels. He's always going from one place to the other, never having time to bond with anyone or make friends, and here he's about to be introduced to a bunch of people he's going to see every day. He hasn't had real friends since he escaped from the orphanage six years ago. The people he's going to meet are going to be his friends? Dave can't even remember what having friends feels like, and he can't help being a little uneasy. What if he's lost his ability to be a social person? But this could be good. They are circus people, so Dave assumes they're fun. Circus people are supposed to embrace bizarre and weird things, since they have such peculiar lives. They should be open to everything, so surely a socially awkward guy is not the worst thing they are going to see.

Yet he grows even more anxious when they finally arrive to the camp. It's sometime in the afternoon, the sun is shining above and Dave spots a group of people gathered in the middle of the circle that the parked trailers form. He also notices two trailers that are located far away from the rest. Dave wonders what they keep in there. Probably something weird, since this is a circus; maybe snakes for an act, or some deformed guy.

William parks his truck and Dave does the same. They get out from their respective vehicles and William motions him to follow and they end up in front of the circus people. Although they are wearing what seem to be worn out costumes from old shows, they all look young like him and pretty much normal, not at all like freaks or gypsies; Dave notices one guy is in a wheelchair but that's not something particularly odd. But how does just a small group of people put up a whole circus?

"There's not that many of you," Dave blurts out. "Is it a small circus? Or are there others but not everyone is here right now."

William laughs and a few people smile.

"Well, we're not Moscow Circus. This is actually all of us and our shows are not huge. But we have our own ways of getting everything done," a tall guy tells him in a good humored voice. "Well, except Kurt. He's… resting right now. You'd be our fifteenth member. I'm Finn, by the way," the guy introduces himself, extending his hand for Dave to shake.

"Guys, this is David Karofsky. The newest member of New Directions," William tells them all. Dave shakes hands with everyone, learning names that he will no doubt take some time to really remember. Some of the members look a bit wary of him, like _he _wasthe freak, even if they are the ones who work in a circus. But luckily most simply give him kind smiles. Overall they act nicely toward him, so Dave is quite pleased with how things are going so far.

"Care to join me in my trailer, David? There are a few things we should discuss first and then if everything goes well, we'll give you your trailer and everything you need to settle down."

"Alright."

"Follow me," William says and then he turns around, addressing the circus guys. "Remember, be careful from now on."

Dave frowns at William's words, but everyone is nodding. William invites him into his trailer and when Dave climbs the steps, he sees there is a bed to one side, also a small table with two chairs, a counter, a couple of trunks and lots of books, papers and stuff scattered here and there.

"Sorry about the mess," William says. "Please, have a sit."

"Nothing is wrong, I hope?" Dave asks, growing a bit worried but sitting at the table.

"Oh, not at all. It's just... there are a few things you should know about us," William says, sitting down across from him. "Nothing bad, just a few things we need to go over for you to feel comfortable around us. Just a few rules of coexistence, you might say."

"Alright."

"So the first part is the easiest. You're joining a very good group of people," William starts. "We travel all around the country, and we spend most of our time together, so we pretty much consider ourselves a family."

"That's good," Dave says, really meaning it. They did indeed look like a nice group of people.

William smiles. "We're also very supportive of one another. When I first thought about pulling this circus together, my intention was mostly to give these special kids a place where they can feel safe. Where they can feel comfortable with whom they are."

Dave narrows his eyes, trying to figure out this part. "Who they are… do you mean young people?"

The older man snorts, like he's amused. "The first part is always the easiest," he repeats. "Well, as I'm sure you noticed, Mercedes is black, for example. Or Tina and Mike, they are Asians. Artie is in a wheelchair."

"Yes, I noticed," Dave replies warily. Is William asking him what he thinks about black people? Or the handicapped, or immigrants?

"It's easier to start with the things you can see right away," William says softly; Dave frowns, feeling like he wasn't supposed to hear that last part. "We're all equals. We don't judge anyone."

"I don't, either," Dave states solemnly. He's not someone who thinks black people should only be servants, and he hates segregation, like the way blacks can't use the same stupid door as whites at a movie theater or drink from the same water fountain. It's ridiculous and degrading. Dave doesn't have a problem with people who are disabled, either, and even less with immigrants considered that his parents were Russians. People should mind in their own business and let others be.

William nods quietly. "So you won't mind that Mercedes is Sam's girlfriend."

"Um… sorry, I can't remember who Sam is."

"The blond guy? He's our only blond male member."

Dave snaps his eyes open in surprise, and then he snorts, amused. William suddenly looks defensive, but Dave hurries to say: "I'm sorry. It's not that I have a problem with that, it's just that a black girl dating the blondest guy on earth is not something you get to see every day."

William sighs, like he's relieved. "Exactly my point; outside this circus, they wouldn't be allowed to be together. But among us-"

"Hey, I think it's great," Dave assures to him. "They should be able to be with whomever they want. They aren't harming anyone." Dave starts feeling luckier. People who have the ability to accept something like this Mercedes girl and this Sam guy dating are really unique; these circus people are really amazing.

William shows a wide smile. "I'm really glad you think that way, Dave. I wish more people were as understanding as you."

"Man, I wish there were more people like you all."

"Indeed. Now, we need to get back to us and our… accepting nature. Once again, I'm telling you this so you'll be comfortable around us, and my kids will be comfortable with you."

Dave nods. "It's alright. If I didn't know and I caught Sam and Mercedes, I don't know, kissing, I would probably shown some surprise. And I'd be just surprised, not upset or… disgusted or something, but it might make them uncomfortable. So I'm glad you're telling me this. This way I won't offend anyone."

"Exactly, but there's another thing," William says quietly. "We also don't judge anyone by their sexual orientation."

Dave's eyes light up. It's hard for him to consider himself a "queer." He finds women somewhat attractive and he has slept with a few. Yet, even if he doesn't like to admit it, if he's with a women, it's mostly because getting to be with men is not that easy. Honestly speaking, he usually finds men loads more attractive than women and he desires them more. The sex is better, too. But that's not something you can let people know.

"That's really great. So you have homosexual couples as well?" Dave asks, unable to conceal his grin.

William laughs once again, sounding relieved at Dave's acceptance. "Currently, we have just one; Santana and Brittany have been together forever. We had a couple of boys, but one of them has left the circus."

Dave nods. "That's really good. I mean, not that they had to split but that you accept them," he corrects himself. "This circus is really something."

"There's something else you should know." But after that, William looks like he's having trouble figuring out how to phrase what he's about to say next. "I've done this plenty of times, and every time it's as awkward as the last."

"Recruiting people?"

"You could say so, yes."

Dave snorts. "There's nothing you could say that could upset me. I mean, I've just found out that you all accept interracial couples and homosexuals. Seriously, I think at this point nothing could surprise me."

William scratches the back of his neck uneasily. "Actually, I think this could surprise you. See, there's something that you probably don't know, but in this world there are what I call… _special people_."

Dave nods, not really knowing what that means. "Circus people?"

"Special. There are some people who have… certain extraordinary abilities."

Dave narrows his eyes. "Circus people?" He asks again. "Not everyone can spit fire, right?"

William laughs "I guess not. But not everyone can create fire out of nowhere in order to spit it. In a regular circus, a very well-trained guy takes a mouthful of gasoline and spits it against a torch. Our fire guy can actually create fire out of nowhere. We still use the torch in order to conceal the fact that he manipulates fire."

Dave's definitely not following this guy. "I'm sorry, what?"

William fidgets in place. "In this circus, all the people you've just met have special talents, Dave. And you have one as well. You probably don't even know you have it, but you do."

Dave snorts. "Me? A talent?" he asks skeptically.

"Yes, Dave. For example our tiger tamer, Brittany, she can communicate with animals. That's why she can stick her head inside the tiger's mouth. She asks and Lily lets her to do it. Our strong man, Noah, he actually has super strength and could lift this trailer without trying. Mercedes can breathe under water, so she has an escape artist act. She gets a little help of Artie, our magician who can move things with his mind. She gets chained down inside a tank full of water. While she breathes under the water, Artie unlocks her from her chains."

Dave gives William a long glare, processing all the things the older man just said. Girls who talk to animals and breathe under water? Super strong men and people who can move things _with their minds_? Dave bursts out laughing.

"Are you playing with me? Or are you simply insane? Man, I don't know if I still want to work here," Dave says, actually meaning it.

Sure, they have to be crazy - accepting homosexuals, blacks, handicapped people and immigrants, to work and live all together as equals. That doesn't happen anywhere. Dave wishes there was more people like them, but people who are not out of their minds. But he really doesn't want to be surrounded by crazy people; that leads to a lot of complications that Dave just doesn't need. What the hell did he just do? He quit a so-so job, but the best one he's had in years, to join a bunch of people who were out of their minds? Dave should have known better. Good things just never happen to him. It sounded amazing at first, so of course there had to be something bad about the whole thing.

"Maybe it's better if I showed it to you?"

Dave doesn't know if he should trust in this guy's judgment anymore, but he nods, not knowing what else to say or do. He should get in his truck and drive back to the station before Mr. Cameron sees his note. Knowing his luck, Dave wouldn't be surprised if his boss decided to drop by the station twice in the same week, at the very moment Dave decided to quit.

William gets up. "Follow me outside."

Dave does, and he notices that there are a lot of people between him and his truck. Almost all the people he just met are standing together in the middle of the circle of trailers, talking to each other. Dave won't be able to get to his truck if he runs towards it without someone trying to stop him.

"Santana!" William calls out. "Can you come with us?"

The brunette girl nods in the distance and then after a few steps she blinks, shaking her head in disbelief like she's suddenly upset, but she continues walking towards them anyway. She glares at Dave and Dave glares back. What's with the attitude! She was smiling just moments ago when they were introduced to each other!

"Yes?" the girl asks flatly.

"I think we should show David what we can do. He's a little... _skeptical _and we can't blame him, right?"

She crosses her arms over her chest. "And how are we supposed to do that?" She inquires, almost

snapping.

"I have an idea. Come with us," William says, walking away from the trailers.

"Lord, I hate walking, Will," the girl tells him, annoyed.

Dave and Santana glare at each other one last time, and follow William deep into the field. Then William stops and speaks to her: "You keep on walking forwards and try to vanish. Eventually, when you're far enough away from us, you'll be able to do that. Then reappear somewhere near so David can see you. "

"What?" Dave asks, because this is getting really ridiculous.

Yet the girl, Santana, starts walking away from them, deeper into the field. Dave really thinks this whole thing is crazy and ridiculous, but keeps his eyes fixed on the brunette girl. He is actually staring straight at her when she suddenly vanishes in front of his eyes and reappears a few feet away from where she was just standing.

"What the hell?" Dave asks, blinking rapidly.

Did he just see what he thinks he saw? He's definitely not drunk, and he always considered himself a sane person, but that girl just disappeared and appeared right in front of his eyes!

"Do it again, Santana!" William calls loudly, since the girl is quite a ways away from them.

Dave gapes as Santana appears and disappears over and over, each time just a couple of feet from the place she was standing before. This cannot be real. Maybe some kind of poisonous spider bit him and he's hallucinating in the solitude of the gas station. People cannot disappear like that. Eventually, Santana stops disappearing and starts walking back towards them with a pleased grin on her face.

"Was that proof enough for you, Karofsky?" She asks defiantly and Dave can't even form a coherent thought.

"Santana, don't be mean to David. It's not his fault and you know it," William says to her with a slightly stern tone of voice.

"Did you just disappear for real?" Dave mumbles. "What's the trick? There is one, right?"

Santana just laughs and shakes her head like she pities him, while William only grins. "No trick, big boy. Can I go back to the guys? We were about to play cards."

"Sure. Thank you, Santana," William tells her as she goes back toward the trailers.

Dave turns around to face William, expecting to get some explanations.

"They're all special like her, Dave. Her ability or _gift,_ as we also call it, is to disappear from where she is, and reappear at some other place she can picture in her mind. It's usually somewhere she can either see, or a place she's been to or previously saw."

Dave's still consternated. "That makes no sense."

William chuckles. "You've just seen it. I'm aware it could be a little surprising-"

"A _little_?"

"I can't really show you all the things my kids can do. Santana's handy, since you can actually see her in the distance. If I used Finn, you might assume he had some way to make fire hidden in his clothes. Sam would have been the best, if it wasn't day time. He's not allowed to fly unless it's night; otherwise someone could see him."

Dave exhales abruptly. "He flies? People don't fly."

"Not regular people. But special people…"

Dave tries to put his thoughts in order. He massages his temple with the tip of his fingers, wondering if he suddenly went insane or something. He was just an average and ordinary guy with a pretty lousy life. He's not really ready to cope with something like this, presuming this is even happening for real.

"If you feel up to it, we can walk away from the trailers a bit. I could ask Noah to lift something really heavy, or maybe Artie could move some stuff in the air-"

"Why do we have to walk away?" Dave suddenly blurts out, out of nowhere. He's not even sure why he's asking this but it's the first thing that comes out of his mouth, instead of 'Has the world gone crazy?'

William presses his lips together in a tight smile. "You have a pretty impressive ability, Dave. Santana had to walk quite a long distance from you to be able to disappear. We should take more accurate measures before making any accommodations, if you decide to stay with us."

Dave blinks. "Ability? I have no abilities," he states. He would have noticed if he could fly or something, for Christ's sake!

William sighs, offering him a sympathetic smile. "You cancel other people's abilities. Well, we call it 'cancel.' Once I talked with someone who heard about people with abilities like yours, and she called it 'power negation.'"

"I do what? People like me? I'm just a damn homeless orphan who works at a gas station," Dave spits out, growing nervous. What the hell is going on? His life had flipped over within less than an hour!

"You're special like us, David. And when you're around people like us, we can't use our special abilities."

Dave crosses his arms on his chest. "Alright, what can you do then? Or better yet, what is it you can't do since I'm around."

William smiles again, patiently. At least the guy is not getting angry at Dave's skepticism. "I can persuade people. Mind control, to be more accurate. There are a few… different ways to do it. I haven't met other people who can do what I do, but I have heard about them. Some of them can make you do something only by… putting that thought in your head. Others need to say out loud what they want you to do. In my case, I have tactile mind control ability. If you couldn't do… what you can do, I would only have to touch you; placing my hand in your arm or back or shoulder and tell you to… I don't know, run a mile none stop, and you would. You'd do whatever I asked you to do, immediately and without question."

Dave's about to tell William to go hell, until he remembers what happened yesterday afternoon. He did find very odd when William approached him out of nowhere, held his arm and told him to give him his Coke with a gloomy tone of voice. You're not that touchy with strangers; it's just weird. But then Dave thinks about how broke and thirsty William was… He actually ordered him to give him a drink and free gas, and Dave refused to do it. Well, he later felt bad for William and gave him the drink.

"Yesterday…" Dave starts, slowly. "Yesterday you… tried to _persuade_ me for the Coke and some gas?"

William smiles, apologetically. "I apologize for that. I try to never take advantage of people, unless it's really necessary. But I did try to persuade you yesterday, and it didn't work. At first, I thought something was wrong with me, until you drove me here. Rachel and Noah approached us, and Rachel couldn't read your mind-"

"She reads people's minds?"

"She does. Not yours, though. She almost had a fit when she realized she couldn't read you, and Noah had to make a little effort to lift Rachel in the air. But then you drove away, and our abilities were back."

Dave's head starts spinning. Is this happening for real? As farfetched as it sounds, it seems to be real. Santana did disappear in front of his eyes, and what William's telling him, along with what happened yesterday, including Rachel's weird behavior, makes sense in some sort of very strange way, but this is quite a bizarre situation so…

Dave's head clears a bit, the spinning lessening. Instead, he feels incredibly sad. He has an extraordinary gift, as William called it; he lived with something like this for all his life and he never knew? His parents sent him away to some aunts when he was six giving no explanation. He went to an orphanage when his aunts died when he was nine. Ever since then, his life has been erratic; he grew up alone, without anything or anyone. Yet, for some reason, this is the first time in his life that he actually feels vulnerable.

Sure, he has no family, no home or money, but he knows all that, so he's always done what he could with the little he has. Yet, apparently there's a part of him he never knew was there…What does it mean? What does he do now, how does he cope with missing out on all the things he never tried to do because he never knew there was something special about him? William places his hand on Dave's shoulder, squeezing it and Dave looks up. For a second, he had forgotten that William was still there.

"I know this can be shocking, David. But everything is alright."

Dave snorts lamely. "Alright! You call this alright? I don't know who I am anymore! And this... this is not normal! I can't be fine with seeing someone disappear in front of my eyes, or knowing that the girl I just met reads people's minds!"

"You're the same person you've always been. This is overwhelming, I understand. Most of the guys you've met have had a hard time to cope with this," William tells him quietly. "And that's actually the reason I run this circus, David. In here, no one will ever make any of you feel that you're a freak, or an outcast. You'll be with people who are just like you; you'll be able to relate to them and they'll relate to you."

Dave suddenly feels tired and drained. This is way too confusing. "But you say I make you all lose your abilities? Why would you want me here? Everyone is going to hate me," he realizes. If he can do what William tells him he can do, then he's going to mess with everyone in here…

"I've already talked to them," William says, showing yet another smile. "I hope that after this, you still want to stay with us. We can make some arrangements at first so no one is in danger."

"Oh, that's great. I'm also dangerous," Dave snorts, shaking his head in disbelief.

"_It_ _is_ dangerous, Dave. Imagine that Sam is flying in the air, and you go near to him. He won't be able to keep on flying; he'd fall to the ground and break his neck."

"I have to go. You can all forget about me," Dave says; he's so done with this. He starts walking away in the direction to his truck.

He can hear William following him. The most of the circus people are sitting at a table in the middle of the circle that the trailers create, playing cards. They all look up as he walks by, sending him quizzical and even worried glances. Dave does his best to ignore them, speeding up towards his truck.

"Hey, man," Finn calls out, standing up. "Where you going?"

Dave keeps on walking faster, but then he looks back over his shoulder, and sees that they are all standing up to come after him.

Shit.

"Just stay away from me!" Dave snaps at them all, turning around to face them. "Can't you see I could get you all killed?"

Dear Lord, the last thing that Dave wants to have on his conscience is the death of some circus guy, just because he _happened to be around. _Dave doesn't think he has great expectations from life. He always wanted to become something better than he was; maybe have some more money or a steady job where he could feel good. Not have to worry about where he's going to sleep tomorrow or if he's going to have money to buy food next weekend.

Being someone with an apparent ability –Dave still refuses to believe this is actually real, he's expecting to wake up sometime soon after a bad hangover- when that ability could potentially get others killed is something that Dave doesn't want to be.

Being homeless implies a lot fewer complications.

"David, please wait!" Rachel shouts at him, sounding upset.

Actually, when Dave gets a better look, even Santana, who just gave him a nasty attitude, seems concerned. They all should be happy to see him leaving. Why are they all looking so… worried? Dave stops where he is, halfway between his truck and the circus people; they are all in front of him now. There's a small moment of silence, then Dave decides to break.

"Look, I get that you're all special or something. But if I'm supposedly special as well and if all I can do is make you all lose the ability to do your stuff, then I think it's better for you all if I take off. You don't have to worry, I'm not saying a word about it," Dave assures them. "I have no one to tell, and even if I did, no one would believe me."

"But we don't want you to leave," the guy in the wheel chair says.

Dave groans. "Don't you know what I can apparently do?"

"First of all, the 'apparently' is not necessary," Rachel says with a bossy tone of voice. "You do cancel our abilities, David. We already discussed this, all together last night, and we all agreed that we want to have you here, because no matter what your ability is, you're one of us."

"I put you all in danger," Dave growls out between gritted teeth.

William steps through an opening in the group, getting closer to Dave. "I believe we can help you master your ability, control it so you decide when and who to cancel."

"I don't even know how I do this! I didn't even know I could do this, or that people like you existed!"

"People like _us_. You're one of us. And all abilities can be mastered," Santana points out. "Believe me. Until that happens, we'll take precautions. We've all discussed this already. None of us has to get harmed, and you can still be with us."

"Just stay with us," a blond girl standing by Santana's side tells him. Dave can't recall her name. Bethany? Britney? Brittany? Yes, _Brittany._ Dave remembers William's words. She's Santana's girlfriend. "Rachel told us you have no family, or home. I wouldn't want you to be alone. That's sad. You could be with all of us. The circus is really fun."

Dave can see Rachel blushing, looking away, and he takes that as a sign that she regrets having a big mouth. Apparently everyone knows already that he's homeless, even though he only met them an hour ago.

Dave swallows hard. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

He really means it. They're good guys, and in this circus they had the luck to be surrounded by people who won't judge them; and they can be at peace with themselves and be with the ones they want to be with. You don't find a place like this often, and Dave doesn't want to put any of them at risk.

"No one will get hurt if we organize ourselves well," William assures him. "Please, stay with us. We're all very much aware of what you can do, and that hasn't stopped us from trying to recruit you, since we want to have you with us. I really think you belong here, David."

_Belong._

That's such a foreign word to Dave. He belonged to a nice family that sent him away one day without explanation. When he got to believe he could belong to another family, his aunts, they died. You can't belong to an orphanage; even less when you grow up being transferred from institution to institution.

His sense of belonging is quite beaten down, but for some reason, these people want him to belong to them, even if they know the risks that entails. He can't really turn that down, so he nods slowly and the circus people smile and clap at him. Dave walks towards them and they even pat his back, offering kind words of welcoming. He still has a lot to ask, to understand and to accept, but right now there's a bunch of people who seems happy about his presence, so Dave guess that he'll have to ask and understand later, and accept whatever happens.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dave's first day in the circus is extremely long. But he gets to see other guy's abilities as well, and he's beyond amazed.

After having lunch with everyone - except for some Kurt guy who was still resting - William decides to measure the 'radius' that Dave's ability covers. Dave is still skeptical when William makes him hold the end of a rope, giving Finn the rest, then has Finn, Artie and Rachel walk (or roll, in Artie's case) away from the camp.

After some distance, Rachel starts jumping and waving her arms, yelling: "I can hear them here! Finn's thinking about having more casserole, and Artie doesn't want to feed Lily! Oh, now he can't believe that Finn wants more casserole since it was terrible and he thinks I shouldn't cook anymore," Rachel finishes, suddenly dumbstruck at her own words and she glares at Artie, who looks away.

Right after that Finn hands the rope to Artie, and put his hands together. A huge flame of fire appears, and when he throws his arms open, the flame extends between his hands. Dave gasps, half shocked and half amazed, until Finn puts his hands together and the fire is gone. Before Dave has time to say anything, Artie lets his hand hover slightly above the reel of rope, without touching it, the reel rises in the air over his lap, and flies back to Finn's hand.

Dave finds it harder to disbelieve that William and his people are crazy when he sees things like that. The bad thing is that if all of this is real, it means that his ability to _cancel_ what the guys can do is real as well. He can't help feeling bothered about that. If he's one of the people William calls 'special', Dave would liked to be able to do something amazing like the other guys, not something that harms them all.

Finn, Rachel and Artie approach, and Finn hands William the rope. "Right here is where we lost it," Finn tells him.

William makes a notch on the rope at the place where Finn was holding it. "I'm going to measure this. Once I get the right distance, we'll park your trailer for tonight, alright? Tomorrow we have to hit the road, and then we'll know where we have to park your trailer in the next camp."

Dave nods, and William walks away, leaving Dave alone with Rachel, Finn and Artie.

"It's so weird not to be able to make fire," Finn points out, and Dave would feel uncomfortable if Finn didn't sound so chipper. "It's like, almost being a normal person!"

"We _are_ normal people," Rachel snaps.

"Yeah, Finn, normal people who can make fire, read minds and move things around without touching them," Artie muses, wheeling himself towards the trailers. They all follow him.

"Are you sure you don't mind me being here?" Dave asks for the thousandth time that day.

Rachel pats his back and the boys shake their heads no. "We'll help you to control it, Dave. I trained myself to read minds, you know?" She tells him proudly.

Finn nudges him, and mutters: "Now she was going to tell you the story of her life. Beware."

"I was only nine when I started reading my dads' minds," Rachel tells Dave, not registering Finn's words.

"Dads?" Dave can't help asking. Rachel looks suddenly uneasy and Dave curses at himself. "I'm sorry. It's not like I'm against that sort of thing. It's just… surprising."

Rachel chuckles. "It's alright. Everyone thinks it's my dad and my _uncle,_" she says, bitterly. "But my mom took off when I was a few months old, and my dad fell in love with my other dad not much after that. They just told everyone he was my mother's brother, and they raised me together."

Dave smiles at her. "That's good."

Rachel nods proudly. "They are the best dads ever. So back to my mind reading, I thought it was amazing. I felt so powerful! But I didn't say anything to anyone. It was my biggest secret!"

Dave doesn't actually mind hearing Rachel's life story. It's not like he's listening to some crazy old man talk about his bean collection. Rachel has a very interesting life story, just like the rest of the circus people must have.

"Weren't you scared or something? How… how does it work?"

The four of them sit at the table where the guys were previously playing cards, and Rachel continues. "It's like… hearing voices. I don't see images, just voices. As if you were talking to me, but instead of you actually saying something, I hear your thoughts."

"But… isn't it confusing? It would be like, lots of people talking to you if you're with lots of people," Dave asks, intrigued.

Rachel shrugs. "My ability developed slowly. I think I actually pushed it a lot. I wanted to be able to hear more, so at school I concentrated a lot on hearing my classmates. I mean, to read their minds. At the same time, I found out there were things I didn't want to hear, so I trained myself not to read some people."

"And how do you do that?"

Rachel smiles, proudly. "It takes a lot of concentration," she explains. "But later, you don't have to concentrate anymore. I'm already trained; I don't usually hear anybody, so it doesn't interfere with my everyday life. But with a little effort, just focusing a little, I hear the thoughts of whomever I want to hear."

"We have an agreement that Rachel tends to break," Artie intercedes, somewhat annoyed. "And it's that Rachel is not allowed to read our minds without our permission."

"I don't do it in purpose!"

"'I'm the best at training abilities. No one has better control of their gift than me. Learn from me, I'll teach you,'" Finn says with a high pitched voice, imitating Rachel.

Dave presses his lips together, trying not to laugh. Lord, it's has been so long since he's been in the company of people… and they're really interesting people. Even funny, since it's funny to see Rachel, who seems to be a know-it-all, all annoyed like she's right now.

Rachel narrows her eyes at Finn. "I helped most of you to control your abilities."

"Yeah, but if you're so good at controlling yours, it means that you read our minds in purpose," Finn states, and Rachel opens her mouth and then she closes it. Obviously, she's been caught. "So either you are not that good at controlling yourself, or you're just nosy."

Dave laughs quietly, since Rachel seems to have a hard time figuring out whether she's nosy or not that good at controlling her mind-reading.

"She's just nosy," Artie decides for her. "It's not polite to get inside people's heads, Rachel."

"Shut up."

"We'll start hanging with _you_," Finn tells Dave. "That way she won't be able to assault our minds, even if she tried to."

"Finn, you're making me look terrible in front of David! He's new," Rachel snaps at him. "What is he going to think of me? Firsts impressions matter a lot, and you're ruining mine!"

Now Dave's even more intrigued. "William said you all perform in the circus. You… read minds in public?"

"Oh, no," Rachel replies. "I like to keep it for myself. But I also like to perform, so I'm in the same act as Mike."

"She's his target," Artie tells Dave.

"I prefer the term 'assistant,' thank you very much. Tina can't put her abilities into acts. She has night vision," Rachel tells him and Dave opens his eyes wide in surprise. "But she's very good at gymnastic stuff. She learned to do the equilibrium act. Or Quinn, she can walk through walls, but ever since she joined the circus, she wanted to be a trapeze artist so she learned how to do it."

"I help her to keep her balance; both of Tina and Quinn," Artie intercedes. "I just hide behind the curtains, to check if they are doing fine, but I usually don't have to do much."

"Two hundred and thirteen feet and three inches", William announces loudly and apparently happy, approaching them. "That's very impressive, David."

Dave fidgets in his place. "That means I have to stay very far away from you all."

"Just until you can control it, man; it will happen, trust me," Finn assures him. "I used to set everything on fire. Luckily, no one ever got hurt, but look at me now!" Finn extends his arm, opening his hand in front of them and nothing happens.

The rest of them glare at Finn, who quickly closed his hand. He gives Dave an apologetic look. "Sorry," Dave mumbles, since obviously Finn was trying to make some fire appear in his hand.

Artie rolls his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief.

"We'll tow your trailer now, so you can settle yourself. Put your stuff wherever you want and make yourself comfortable. Noah would usually push it around but… we'll have to do it in a more conventional way now," William tells him, sounding very much alright about it even if Dave keeps on feeling a bit guilty about making them all go through so much trouble.

Half an hour later, Dave finds himself in front of a nice looking trailer and honestly, he can't believe that it's all for him. William keeps on telling him that 'it's not much' but to Dave, it's actually a lot.

Noah is standing next to him, since he just towed the trailer and asks him. "What do you think?"

Noah's happens to be the guy he saw yesterday when he drove William here. It's weird for him to think that this guy is actually the circus' strongman. In appearance, Dave would look like he's the stronger, since Noah is both shorter and smaller than him, although Noah has really muscular arms. Yet, what makes of Noah a very peculiar character is his haircut: his head is practically shaved, except from a stripe of hair down the middle of the back of his head.

But Noah's a member of a circus, so it's not that weird. And Dave thinks it looks pretty awesome.

"Man, I haven't had a room in years," Dave blurts out with his eyes fix on his brand new trailer, and he doesn't really feel bad about admitting it.

"Let's take a look inside, then," Noah tells him, motioning him to walk inside.

The trailer inside looks incredible. Dave thought they were going to give him a trailer that was used for storage, probably packed with stuff and completely dirty… and Dave wouldn't have minded. The place is a bit messy, it's true, and there are a few random items here and there… but there's a bed, _a proper bed,_ right in front of Dave's eyes. He didn't expect this.

"That's the bed. Here's dining area," Noah points out to a small table between two small benches. "And that's the kitchen area if you want to have something. We usually have lunch and dinner all together. Of course, breakfast and stuff, that's up to you and when you wake up. There's a lot of cabinets," he says, opening a few in front of Dave. "And it also has heat and electric lights, but since we camp in the open we never have power so I'll bring you some oil lamps and stuff."

Dave steps closer to the bed, sitting down on it; a mattress. He has a mattress! He could start laughing in joy right now. He looks around, noticing that the trailer is nicely decorated as well. There are even curtains in the windows; this is definitely not just a trailer that they use as a warehouse.

"Does this belong to someone?" Dave inquires. "I don't want to take someone's place as well."

Noah chuckles. "Not anymore. It used to belong to Sebastian and Blaine."

Dave frowns. He can't recall _all_ the names of his new workmates, but he's sure that none of them had introduced to himself as 'Blaine'.

"Blaine?"

Noah's face darkness, looking slightly bothered, and Dave's sure that he shouldn't have asked that.

"He used to be part of our group, but he turned up to be a jerk," Noah tells him; the bitterness in his voice is pretty obvious. "He left though, around a year ago."

Then Dave remembers that William told him two guys used to be together as a couple, but not anymore since one of them left. He has a hard time remembering which one of the guys he met today is Sebastian, though.

"William said something about it. They were boyfriends, right?"

Noah nods nonchalantly and it still amazes Dave that he can talk out loud with someone else about two homosexual guys, and about these homosexual guys being a couple. Outside the circus, you can never say things like this.

"Yes. Not anymore though..."

Then Dave realizes that means this trailer belongs to Sebastian. Dave doesn't want to cause any more inconvenience around here.

"Hey, but this is Sebastian's trailer, right? You don't need… I don't want to take someone else's place. I can find somewhere else to sleep."

Noah chuckles. "Relax, man. Sebastian's been staying with Finn since Blaine took off. He doesn't cope with loneliness very well."

And Dave doesn't know Sebastian but he kind of feels bad for him. "That sucks."

Noah shrugs. "He's been moping around ever since. I told him plenty of times that if the guy took off, then to hell with him, but Seb still gets a bit down every now and then."

Not knowing what to say, Dave just nods. "This Blaine guy… did he join another circus?"

Noah snorts, showing an amused smile. "You could say so. He joined a bunch of clowns, yeah. You're a funny man, Karofsky."

Dave doesn't really see how what he just said is funny. This Blaine guy joined another circus… so what? Noah looks angry about it, that's for sure, and Dave assumes it's because that hurt one of the circus members; all the circus people seem to be very close to each other. But Dave is curious now; if this guy Blaine is part of another circus, surely he either has some ability, or at least knows about these special abilities that others have.

Are there other circuses with people like them?

_People like them, _Dave thinks to himself. Dave's someone now, not just a young homeless man. He's part of 'people like them' and it's weird, in a good way,, even if 'them' is a very odd group of people. Dave's no longer so overwhelmed like he was earlier in the afternoon, but the idea of being something more than the nothing he's been for so long still feels foreign to him. Yeah, being part of something is going to take some getting used, but it definitely feels good.

"I towed this trailer with your truck," Noah continues. "Since they are now both yours, you get to tow it when we're on the road. As for your truck, it let out some scary noises, so I think it would be a good idea to check the engine one of these days."

"Alright."

"Oh, and there's a small barrel with water outside in case you are either thirsty or you want to wash up," Noah tells him, heading to the door. "We don't get to have proper showers or baths, unless we're performing in a town. So for hygiene, we take a 1890's approach."

Dave laughs. "It's better than nothing," he assures him, remembering how much he craved being able to keep even somewhat clean when he lived on the street.

"So make yourself comfortable. We used to put stuff from the show in here, so anything that doesn't belong just leave outside and we'll take it to the equipment trailer. Just in case, don't go to the camp," Dave swallows hard, but nods. "Just until we work on some schedules," Noah hurries to explain. "We'll do that today. But don't worry, someone will show up soon to keep you company. You'll find that you lose any sense of privacy when you're part of a traveling circus."

"Man, I spent six years of my life in orphanages. Twelve to twenty kids per room; I lost any sense of privacy long ago," Dave tells him and Noah stares at him, but then he smiles and nods.

"That's good, I guess. At least you won't be bothered by us. Once everything is settled in camp, someone will take you over there. Just make yourself comfortable and well… welcome to New Directions."

"Thanks, man."

Noah leaves and Dave stays all by himself in his new trailer. "My new trailer," Dave whispers to himself. It sounds great to his ears…

He lays back in his brand new bed, still unable to believe that he has a bed to sleep in tonight and a roof above his head. His life has taken a really major turn in a very short time. When he woke up this morning, on the floor of the gas station, the last thing that Dave expected for his life was that later in the day he was going to join a circus, meet a bunch of almost surreal people, get potential new friends, a small-almost-home and… a special ability.

Families, death, orphanages, the Great Depression, bad economy, those are things that were always real for Dave, even from before he had to experience them all.

By contrast, people who can create fire, move things with their minds, read minds, disappear and reappear at some other place… those are things that Dave never thought were possible, since as far as he knew, people who could do all that did not exist.

And Dave's one of these people now.

Beyond that, seeing two girls being a couple, or a blond guy with a black girl, is something really great, even if it's another thing Dave is not used to it. In the solitude of his new trailer – he loves to repeat those words in his head - Dave thinks about how that kind of love is possible because girls who like other girls exist, and white and black people exist, too. If they are not engaged in romantic relationships, it's because of other people who won't allow them and not because they're physically unable to be together.

Dave shrugs. He guesses that as the days go by, he will start getting more used to this brand new world. If there's an ability that Dave really has, it's adapting to new environments. His only concern is hurting no one, so he will do whatever he has to do in order to keep people safe from himself. These circus' people seem to be nice guys; no one has been so considerate with him in years, so Dave doesn't want to harm them.

Dave gets up, deciding to move his stuff into his trailer. It doesn't take much time, since he has very little. Just a bag with some clothes, and… well, nothing else.

At first he wants to keep all the objects that seem to belong to the circus, so that they won't have to move anything more because of him, but then he's not sure if they need all that stuff for the show. There are fabrics, poles, ropes and other things that Dave doesn't recognize, so just in case, he puts everything outside.

In the end, his trailer looks very empty, but not so completely, since there's still a bed, chairs, a table, a small kitchen, curtains… Dave finds a small bucket, gets some water and spends the next few hours cleaning the trailer since it's a bit dusty. After that, he gets another bucket of water and proceeds to wash himself. Then he changes his clothes, since his trousers and wife beater are a real mess. His other clothes are not precisely clean, but they look much better.

There's a knock in his door, and Dave blinks. He has a damn door to answer! That's awesome. He hurries to open it, and finds Finn, the Asian guy and a blond guy standing outside.

"Hey there," Finn greets him. "They're still making arrangements in the camp, but we wanted to check if you're doing alright."

Dave grins. "Yeah, want to come in?"

The three of them get inside, and they look around, impressed. "This looks good," the blond guy says.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not sure of all your names," Dave tells them apologetically. "You're Finn, that's for sure. And you are Mercedes' boyfriend," he says, pointing at the blond guy. He remembers that part.

The three of them laugh. The blond guy scratches the back of his head, amused. "I'm usually the guy who can fly, but that's a nice thing to be remembered for. I'm Sam."

Dave doesn't want to be nosy, but he can't help saying, "Sorry. I just… it's really great that you two can be together."

Sam smiles. "It really is. Mercedes is just amazing."

"As for the names, it always takes a bit of time. I'm Mike," the Asian guy tells him.

Dave narrows his eyes, trying to remember what William and the others had told him about Mike. "You're the one with accurate aim."

Mike smiles. "I could throw a knife in the air without ever seeing the target and I'd still hit it."

The guys sit at the table, and Dave joins them.

"Do you fly during your performance?" he asks Sam.

"I'm in the trapeze and cannon ball acts," Sam replies, smiling. "The cannon doesn't actually shoot me anywhere; we just put some fireworks outside to make the explosion, and I fly away. I fly on the trapeze, too, though it looks like I'm jumping or falling."

Dave grins, awed. He would love to watch the show, but then he realizes that he won't be able to do that any time soon. None of them will be able to use their abilities to perform is he's around.

"Quinn and Noah are in the trapeze act, too," Finn points out, "because he is strong enough to catch Quinn in the air. She learned to balance herself on the trapeze, and Artie still helps."

Dave nods, impressed. "And you throw knives at Rachel," he tells Mike.

Mike laughs and the rest of them join him. "Never hurt her so far. Sometimes we want to strangle her, but she is nice, so we don't hurt her."

As the conversation flows along, Dave forgets that the guys he's talking to have incredible abilities, and that he has a lousy one. They all talk and act like completely regular people. They end up talking about music, telling him that they have a couple of phonographs and record players and a nice collection of records that happens to fit with Dave's taste in music. They all seem to share the same appreciation for jazz and swing music. Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, The Carter Family, Guy Lombardo, Fletcher Henderson... they like all of them and quickly get engaged in a conversation about music.

The sun starts going down, and Dave doesn't even notice. Neither the guys, do until there's another knock at his door and they realize that they've been talking for a long time. Mike opens the door and Dave hears a female voice telling him that dinner's ready. Dave walks his new friends to the door and spots the Asian girl holding a lantern; she takes Mike's hand as soon as he leaves the trailer. Dave doesn't ask any question about it, but he assumes they are girlfriend and boyfriend or something.

"You coming?" she asks Dave.

Dave wasn't expecting that. "Can I? I mean, I'm not sure if-"

The girl laughs, cutting him off. "Of course you can come to have dinner with us! For breakfast, it's up to you, but we always have lunch and dinner together."

Dave smiles, trying to remember her name. "Tina, right?"

She nods. "That's right. Hope you like grilled steaks and mashed potatoes," she tells him as they start walking back towards the camp.

"I do."

Dave can eat pretty much anything. Considering he has been feeding himself with tootsie pops, Hershey Bars, Butterfingers, Milky Ways and Snickers, all the 'food' that was available in the gas station, he's definitely not going to pass up an invitation to have real meat and vegetables. Right in the middle of the camp they have set several tables together, creating a single long one. The plates, glasses and flatware are set, along with some bottles of water and several pots of smashed potatoes. Santana, Rachel, Brittany and the other blonde girl are already sitting at the table. So is Artie, while a guy Dave hasn't talked to, yet, is helping William take the steaks from the small grill. Dave assumes that's Sebastian. The boyfriend of the guy who took off.

_New River Train_ by The Monroe Bros is playing on a phonograph nearby. Dave definitely likes this new environment.

Mike and Tina take their places and Finn motions Dave to take the chair next to him. Sam sits on Dave's other side as William and Sebastian came to the table with a tray filled with steaks. Noah shows up out of nowhere, sitting down as well.

"Alright everyone, food's on," William announces and they all start putting food onto their respective plates.

Everyone passes the jars of water and the mashed potatoes and as soon as Dave starts eating, he grins, delighted. He doesn't know if it's because the food is actually good, or just because he has missed having real food, but it tastes delicious. They all start talking about the plans for tomorrow, since they're going to hit the road. Dave listens carefully, trying to get as much information as he can.

They're two days away from Aurora. They will leave tomorrow morning and drive until the afternoon, then make a stop at some gas station where they can use the bathrooms; but no one is getting gas until they perform in Aurora, since they can't afford fuel for all their vehicles. In case one stops working, they'll tow it to the nearest station to fill just that one. They will make camp again somewhere before the sun goes down, and the following day they should arriving Aurora sometime that afternoon.

"We need to discuss our arrangements with you, Dave," William tells him.

Dave nods. "Alright."

"Whenever we're camping, your trailer has to be the same distance from the camp as it is now," William says, and Dave nods again. "Someone will come get you in the mornings, once we're sure that none of us is a situation that could be compromised if you're close to us. Lily's cage is going to be located further away from the camp as well, so even when you're with us, Brittany can spend time with her."

Dave gazes at her. _Brittany, she communicates with animals,_ he reminds himself, trying to ignore how strange that sounds. He really wants to get all their names and their abilities right.

"Alright," Dave says again.

"For now, you can't be in the tent during the shows. You have to keep the same distance from it as you'll keep from the camp. You can help us to carry stuff around to set up the tent when it's day time, but at night, we usually use our abilities to put the tent up."

"How do you do that?" Dave can't help asking.

"It's very easy," Santana tells him. "I can carry stuff around, without even walking. I just have to disappear with some heavy stuff and appear where it has to be. Sam can fly to put things up high, Noah can lift pretty much everything and Artie can move stuff around without touching it. The rest just help in a conventional way."

"Just late at night, so no one sees us," Sam adds.

"It's a small tent, and a small circus," Rachel continues. "We don't do shows in big cities, since our tent only holds around two hundred people when we sell out. It doesn't really take much for us to put the tent up. And sometimes, people from the towns we're in help us out, so by night it's all done."

"Tomorrow when we stop again, we'll teach you where everything is. And Rachel and I will start helping you to control your ability."

"That sounds good," Dave says.

They continue their meal in an amiable mood. Dave looks around and everyone looks pretty much normal. The strange thing, actually, is having dinner with so many people, but so far, Dave's enjoying it.

When they finish dinner, Santana stands up. "Today it's Finn, Sebastian and Rachel's turn to do the dishes, so I'm going to bed. Brit?"

Brittany stands up, and waves her hand to everyone. "Goodnight, guys. 'Night, Dave."

Dave offers a polite smile. "Goodnight."

Little by little, everyone starts leaving the table until it's just him, Finn, Rachel and Sebastian. William is coming and going, putting the empty tables away. The three young people are all talking about the next show, but Dave is silently gazing at two trailers parked away from the camp, just like his trailer is, but in the opposite direction. He can see light coming from one of them and he can't help wondering what's in there.

His trailer is parked away from everyone since he's dangerous... So does that mean they have another dangerous person in the circus?

"What's in those trailers?" Dave inquires, pointing at them.

Finn, Rachel and Sebastian turn around to see what Dave's pointing at and then look back at him, for some reason looking slightly…. worried? Uneasy? Upset? Dave can't really tell.

"One of those is where we keep all our costumes for the show," Rachel replies quietly. "The other one, the one that has its lights on, it's Kurt's."

Dave narrows his eyes; he heard a lot of stuff today and he's sure he has heard that name before "The guy who was resting today when I met you all?"

"Yeah," Sebastian says, with his voice slightly tense.

Dave figures some things are not his business. There are things that Dave knows he can't ask about, at least not now while he's the new guy. For example, what's the real deal with Blaine leaving to join another circus? It made Noah mad, and it's something personal since he was Sebastian's boyfriend, so Dave can't ask about that right now. Then there's also Tina and Mike. Are they together? It doesn't really matter, but still he's curious. But he hasn't even shared a full day with these people; they don't really know each other well enough to ask personal questions, so he has to wait. Now he has to add this guy Kurt to his waiting list, even if he's curious about him now. If his trailer is parked so far away, maybe the two of them have something in common. Or maybe he's a very deformed guy who doesn't want to be seen. Dave's not sure, since this circus holds only _special people_ with extraordinary abilities and being deformed wouldn't be an ability.

Unless this guy Kurt is deformed _and_ has a dangerous ability like him.

"I can help you with the dishes," Dave offers, to break the sudden tension in the air. "It's the least I could do."

Sebastian laughs. "Everyone said the same at their first dinner. After that, no one wants to do them. I'm sorry, we didn't get to talk much. I assume you don't remember all our names yet, so I'm Sebastian, by the way."

Dave smiles, politely. "I figured."

"So how is the circus treating you?"

It's weird talking to Sebastian, knowing he's a homosexual, knowing everyone is aware of this and everyone is beyond okay with it, as well. All the homosexual men Dave has met were really secretive about this, obviously, and he always met them in dark bars or back alleys.

And it's not like he's talking with Sebastian about their taste in men in front of everyone, but still it is strange and also comforting that there's someone around who likes men just like he does, knowing that it won't be an issue.

"It's treating me quite fine. It's hard, getting used to the fact that there are people who can read minds," Dave says, pointing at Rachel, and she smiles at him. "But so far, so good."

They pick up all the glasses, plates, trays and flatware, and take them to a bucket filled with water that's already sitting on a stool. Dave takes the sponge with soap and starts washing the dishes with Sebastian. Finn dries them with a table cloth and Rachel puts them inside a wooden box.

Dave's still staring at Kurt's mysterious trailer, and his attention is even more focused when he sees its door opening. Dave stays very still, trying to catch a glimpse of this Kurt character.

But the light coming from the insides of the trailer illuminates the figure of the black girl, _Mercedes _he reminds to himself, walking out. Kurt seems to be inside, since she turns around as soon as she exits the trailer, carrying something in her hands, and seems to be saying something to someone inside; Kurt obviously.

Dave chuckles to himself, but he keeps his eyes fixed on Mercedes, who's now walking towards the camp. He remembers her from earlier, but he didn't notice she was missing during dinner. Dave's not used to being surrounded by so many people, so he doesn't blame himself for not remembering one face missing on his very first day in the circus.

She approaches them, and offers Dave a tender smile, dropping two plates, two glasses and some flatware inside the bucket of water. Dave instantly assumes she was having dinner with this Kurt guy.

"How was your first dinner with the gang?" She asks him with a good humored voice. "We're a bit weird, but we're also incredibly lovable. You'll never meet such amazing people as us."

Dave lets out a small laugh. He already likes this girl. "No, I don't think I ever will. You're the one who breathes under water, right?" Dave inquires, trying to see if he remembers right. He got her name right, though.

She nods, proudly. "I could be under water for hours, without coming to the surface. I don't do it much, since my skin get all wrinkly."

"How was Kurt?" Rachel asks, failing at sounding casual, and Dave shuts his mouth but pays close attention to his new companions.

Mercedes shrugs. "Same as usual. Is William around or he has gone to his trailer already?"

"He was around. He was packing the tables," Sebastian tells her.

"Alright, I'll go find him, and then bedtime. 'Night, guys," she says and leaves. They all say goodnight and Dave's left even more curious about this Kurt guy.

He doesn't like not knowing stuff, even less when it involves him somehow. He's not related to this Kurt character, but they both belong to the same circus after all. He knows himself well enough to know that he wouldn't be nearly as interested if people didn't keep mentioning Kurt, and acting all weird when they do it.

Sebastian, Finn and Rachel start talking about tomorrow's trip, but Dave hears Mercedes' voice not far from them. Dave can't see her, but he's aware she's somewhere behind him.

"Hey, Will. I have to ask you something."

"Sure, Mercedes," William replies.

"Kurt asked if he can drive tomorrow; he really wants to try. He said he's feeling fine. At least until before we make a stop."

There's a pause, and Dave tries to focus, just in case they're suddenly speaking lower, but William speaks again, sounding unsure. "I don't know how I feel about that. How did he look to you? Does he really look alright?"

Mercedes sighs. "He was very tired. Fitting day today; most of us had to try out our costumes. I guess he'll sleep soundly tonight."

Dave frowns. Thankfully, neither Sebastian, Finn nor Rachel seem to notice the conversation that's being held behind them, or that Dave's eavesdropping on it.

"We'll see tomorrow," William concludes, unconvinced. "Honestly, I'm not comfortable with the idea of him driving."

"He's going to be fine," Mercedes states, sounding slightly mad. "Nothing's going to happen."

"We don't know that. What if he got distracted while driving? Or if we pass by some crowded place?"

"It's not healthy for him to be drugged all time, William. You know that," Mercedes says, almost snapping at him.

"I don't like it, either, but it would be worse if he ended up in the hospital, Mercedes. We all know how bad that would be."

"That won't happen again! It was different! Things are not the same and-"

"I'll go to see him tomorrow before we leave, and if he was alright, I'll consider it," he cuts her off.

"Fine, 'night, Will," Mercedes grumbles and Dave listens to her steps walking away from them.

Apparently, that's all Dave's going to get to know about Kurt for now. He's definitely curious, since he's part of a circus; a circus that holds a lot of unimaginable things. Within one day, Dave has discovered a whole new world he never even knew existed, one so strange that it far surpasses what Dave would normally consider strange. It's impossible for Dave to ignore the things that happens around him now. These things are meant to be incredible.

Dave had dinner with a guy who flies for real. And a girl who talks with animals; all of these people –except himself - have gifts that are really amazing to see. Without doubt, Dave really wants to know what this Kurt guy can do, and why everyone acts so cautious about him. Kurt could be some kind of monster guy that they have to keep sedated. Or he could have some extraordinarily dangerous ability like Dave's, so they keep him away from the camp. Dave figures he will have to wait and see.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Dave's first day on the road with the circus goes pretty well. It starts amazingly well, since he gets to wake up after having the best sleep in years. His bed is beyond amazing; it's comfortable unlike the gas station's floor, and he actually fits on it, unlike the back seats of his truck.

A pretty blond girl named Quinn - Dave reminds himself that she's the one who walks through walls - picks Dave up early in the morning, and takes him to the camp to help everyone tow the trailers.

Rachel's waiting for him and motions him to follow her.

"I'll show you how we deal with the trailers," she explains, walking with him. Dave watches everyone coming and going, packing stuff. "It might look like a lot to remember at first, but it's not that hard once you get used to it."

"Alright."

"Most of us share trailers, except you, Kurt and William," Rachel explains to him. "For every car, there's a trailer. We used to tow two more, but… it's difficult. Police men don't really like it and it can destroy a car's engine. This trailer is mine and Quinn's," she points at a light blue trailer. "We're not a couple though," she hurries to add.

"Err… good for you?" Dave replies, hesitantly.

Rachel laughs. "Well, I know that William told you that Sam and Mercedes are in a relationship already, so that's why they share their trailer. And Santana and Brit have been together as long as I've know them as well, so they also share their trailer. Mike and Tina are the same."

Dave smiles at that; he likes getting new information about his brand new friends. "They are a couple too? There are plenty of people together in here," he points out, well heartedly.

Rachel shrugs. "I guess things develop between some people after spending so much time together. As for me and Quinn, I know you're alright with homosexuality, and since Santana and Brit are girlfriends, I just thought you'd assume that Quinn and I are. But we're just great friends. Finn has been sharing his trailer with Sebastian, and Noah and Artie share another trailer. Then we have a couple of trailers more to tow other stuff."

Dave frowns at her. "Other stuff?"

"We have an equipment trailer, where we have all what we need to put the tent up, plus the water barrels, then we have the trailer where we put all the stuff we use in the camp, like... pots and stuff. Then there's the costumes trailer, and Lily's cage. "

Dave nods, understanding. "So that makes fourteen trailers, if you count Lily's cage as one and fifteen cars-"

"Fourteen cars counting your truck."

"Shouldn't there be a car for every person? We're fifteen, right? Oh, the guy in the wheelchair," Dave remembers.

Rachel smiles. "Artie actually drives a car. We adapted one, so he can drive it without using his legs. I don't know where William got that mechanic, but he managed it."

Dave's eyes grow wide, impressed. He has never seen something like that. "That's awesome."

"Amazing, uh?" Rachel continues. "Until yesterday we had more trailers than cars, so Sebastian towed the costumes trailer and Blaine's together, since we still used it a bit, but now you're here with your truck, so you can tow it. But not everyone gets a car; Kurt doesn't drive, so one of us drives his trailer. Usually it's Santana or Noah."

_Kurt._

He doesn't get the whole thing with the trailers and cars, but he assumes he will later. Now, Kurt's name is in his mind. Dave figures that since Rachel's one of the people he has spoken with the most, he could talk about Kurt a bit with her.

"Mercedes said he might drive today," Dave says, casually, hoping to hear more about this guy.

Rachel stares at him like she's confused. "What? William was alright with that?"

Dave shrugs; honestly, he still doesn't know what the deal with that is. "He said he was going to talk to him today."

Rachel opens her eyes widely. "Just wait her for me for a second, alright? I'll be back shortly," she says, turning on her heals and walking away, muttering things that sound like 'Is he crazy? They cannot let him drive,' and stuff that makes Dave grow more puzzled, but he's starting to get used to it.

Then Mike and Noah called him to ask him for help carrying some stuff around, and Dave quickly forgets about the whole Kurt deal. Half an hour later, they're all on the road, and Dave since can't spot Kurt anywhere, so he assumes he didn't get to drive as Mercedes said he wanted to.

He will get to at least catch a glimpse of Kurt eventually, to find out if he's deformed or not. The guy can't be hidden forever, right? It's a small circus, and they are just a few people.

The convoy of cars, trucks, and trailers spent the next three hours driving to Aurora. They make a quick stop just to stretch their legs, and then after another three hours of driving, they park at a truck stop to have something to eat. There are not many people around, and most of them are big guys with beards, but Dave notices that they're getting a lot of looks.

"You'll get used to it," Sam tells him as they walk towards a couple of tables placed at one side of the store.

They don't buy anything to eat, since Quinn, Tina and Sebastian had made a large amount of sandwiches for all of them, and Dave looks around to see people's reactions towards their group. The stares don't seem to be particularly malicious – it's just that they are a group of talkative young people at a rest stop primarily used by grumpy middle aged men. Plus, a convoy of colorful trailers and a large cage with a tiger inside naturally get a lot of attention. It was obvious they're a travelling circus, and that's a novelty for most people. At least it was for Dave, yesterday morning when he hadn't even seen a circus in his life. But no one gives them any trouble. Dave takes this opportunity to take a look at the tiger. So far, he hadn't had a chance, and he has never seen a tiger so close in his life.

He stays behind his circus mates and approaches the tiger lying comfortably inside the cage upon a layer of straw. Dave sees a bucket of what seemed to be water, stuck to the floor of the cage, and some big bones here and there. It doesn't look as scary as Dave thought it would look, but it's incredibly beautiful.

"It's strange not being able to talk to her."

Dave turns around and sees Brittany standing behind him. "I'm sorry."

The blonde girl smiles. "It's alright. She's a good kitty anyways. I don't think she'll hurt me, but William said it's better to take precautions."

Dave nods. "How do you talk to her?"

Brittany shrugs her shoulders. "I just do. Animals understand me. They always have. But now with you here, it's like she doesn't hear me at all."

"Do they talk to you?"

"No. They just… get me," Brittany tells him, and Dave can see how badly she wants to stick her hand inside the cage to caress the tiger. "I've had Lily for about four years now. She was born in another circus; a regular one, not like ours. But that circus dissolved and they just abandoned her inside the cage. She was so thin when we found her…"

Dave thinks that it would be hard to figure out what to do with a tiger, but watching Lily, he can't help cursing the bastards who just left this beautiful animal inside a cage to die from starvation.

"I took care of her, and she trusts me. I guess her old owners treated her badly, and that's all she knew in her life. She's really nice to me and she has never hurt me, not even once."

Dave gives her a smile. "I guess she appreciates you being so nice to her."

Both of them rejoin their group, and for the first time since he joined the circus, Dave decides that he's going to try at this whole training thing; he will do what William said he could: control his ability and decide when and who to cancel. He can be interfering with everyone's lives, just like he's interfering with Brittany and her peculiar pet.

After their little break, they drive for another four hours. The sun's almost going down, and they camp far from the road, in the fields, just like they did the previous day. The night is pretty uneventful, but Dave sleeps feeling excited about the show that they're holding the following day, even if he wouldn't be a part of it.

The following morning, everything starts pretty much the same as the previous one. This time it's Mercedes the one who takes Dave to the camp, and there's nothing to pack but the tables they used to have dinner the previous night. But then something slightly different happens: Dave learns that Kurt's not deformed in the least.

While he's carrying a table to the camping trailer, Dave glances at Kurt's trailer as a habit he'd quickly developed within the last two days, hoping to see_ something. _Dave stops still, holding the table in his hands as he actually _sees him, _standing outside his trailer. There's still quite a long distance separating them, but it's not far enough that Dave doesn't see the famous Kurt.

Kurt's simply standing in front of his trailer, stretching his arms in the air. He doesn't look deformed at all. Dave can appreciate that he's quite slender, and young like the rest of them. He's wearing tight black pants, with equally black footwear, - Dave can't tell if those were boots or shoes - and a purple fitted jacket. Not many men wear clothes like that, so Dave assumes Kurt's wearing a piece of a circus costume.

Now Dave wonders if Kurt performs in the show, but he can't recall anyone telling him about any number that Kurt was included in. He still doesn't know about all the circus's acts, but William had told him that usually after joining the circus, they all get an act in the show, even if their abilities can't be performed, like Rachel's, Quinn's, or Tina's. Dave concludes that he will have to ask about that later.

He can't see Kurt's face very well, but he seems to look pretty much normal. Dave can see that Kurt's very pale and has dark hair, but that's it. Kurt never looks in the direction of the camp; after stretching his arms, Kurt goes inside the costumes trailer and Dave doesn't get to see him again.

Dave resumes packing the table, thinking about this guy. He rules out the possibility of Kurt being some deformed freak, since he has seen he isn't. But now Dave just wonders even more about what Kurt's ability is and why, after two days in the circus, they haven't been introduced yet. That should have happened; after all, it it's not like they work at some factory that had hundreds of employees where the chance of running into each other is unlikely to happen. This is only a fifteen people circus, and they're together all the time.

While everyone's being friendly and nice with him, there's one guy in particular that has not yet been introduced to him, and Dave can't help finding that suspicious. Then he thinks about the possibility of him being really dangerous to Kurt, or Kurt being even more dangerous to people than he is. In spite of his risky ability, Dave does spend a lot of time with the circus guys, while Kurt's never around. Dave doesn't know if Kurt's around while he's away, or if he's always away in his trailer, regardless Dave's location.

But once again, Dave can't ask questions, since fifteen minutes later, they all start driving to Aurora. This time, they don't make any stops. William told him that Aurora was only four hours ahead, and some town people whom William talked to by phone when they stayed in the truck stop the previous day offered him to help them to put the tent up.

The drive is peaceful until they arrive to Aurora. Dave has never been there, but he notices that the town is pretty small, and when they arrive to the town people on the streets wave at them, and children run behind the convoy of trailers as they head in the direction of the land that Aurora's people had provided for the show. Dave smiles, feeling welcomed. It's not like every day you get to have a bunch of strangers happy to see you. William leads them to a large field that's located on the border of the town, next to a modest baseball diamond. At first, they park all trailers together, but Dave's sure that they will have to move them to their agreed distance later.

They all get out from their respective vehicles, and people from the town are starting to gather in front of them, looking very pleased with their presence.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," William greets them all in a loud and kind voice. "We are the New Directions Circus, and we're very excited to be here."

People clap at William's words; the smiles on their faces are contagious and Dave finds himself smiling back, feeling truly content for the first time in months.

An old man steps out from the crowd. "I'm Thomas Benson, head of the council of Aurora," he says, shaking hands with William. "It's a pleasure to have you here, to bring some joy to our town, and I hope we'll all make you feel very welcomed."

After some greetings, William and Mr. Benson walk away from the rest of them, and judging by how they're moving their arms, pointing in different directions, Dave assumes they're talking about the place where they are supposed to put the tent up.

People stay there, gazing at them, like they're expecting something big to happen, but none of the circus guys does anything but smiling and saying hi to everyone. Dave is not sure if that's because he's there, or if it's because they never show any tricks to regular people, unless they're performing. Dave still thought that it would be nice to see awed kids if Finn snapped his finger, making a small flame appear over his hand.

William returns to the group and says: "Alright folks. Let's make camp first and then we can start putting the tent up. Follow me."

Mike gets inside Tina's car, leaving the trailer with all the equipment for the tent where it is as they all get in their vehicles and followed William, who's driving a couple hundred feet away from people. Dave drives behind, but he can see how they all start parking the trailers, forming a circle, except for Brittany, who's pulling Kurt's trailer with her car. She keeps driving a little further from the rest, and in an opposite direction to Dave's.

Being aware of his accommodations, Dave makes a turn to his left, and drives further, away from the camp and from Kurt's trailer, copying the same setting they made during the two last days while camping in the open. He parks his truck at a distance he considers safe, but he's doing it at guess, so when he gets out from his truck, he shouts:

"Is here good for everyone?"

Everyone turned around, but it's Rachel the one that shouts back. "Yes!"

"Come here, Dave!" Finn yells at him, and Dave starts walking towards the camp.

He catches Brittany getting out of her car and walking inside Kurt's trailer. When he reaches the camp, Finn tell him that since they're in public, none of them are going to use their abilities, so Dave can stay around as much as he wants. Dave really likes hearing that.

"Guys, we're putting up the tent over there, in front of those trees," William points at the place and Dave looks over; the tent would be quite far from them. Dave guess it's maybe a hundred and fifty yards away from the camp. "Mr. Benson said that lots of people offered to help us, so I guess that we won't have to work tonight. We'll probably have to do a second show on Sunday, since we're sold out! As for showers, we're free to use the ones at the baseball diamond. There's a gym; you have to ask for Mr. Franco and tell them you're part the circus."

"Yeah, showers!" Finn waves his arms in the air, and everyone laughs, clapping in amusement and excitement. Dave guesses that this always happens, every time they get to have showers available.

"So get yourself in your working clothes. When everyone is ready, we'll start with the tent."

They all nod, and most of them start heading to their respective trailers, while others just stay around. Dave wonders what clothes he should wear, or if he should stay with the clothes he has on. After all, he doesn't have fancy pants or shirts that will be more ruined than what they already are if he does some hard work. He decides to stay with the clothes he's wearing and do something useful while the rest are changing.

"I'll go and grab some tables and stuff to set up camp," Dave lets William know.

He passes by Brittany while he's getting to the trailer where they keep all the camp stuff, and she smiles at him. Dave smiles back, but he follows her with his eyes. Santana's waiting for her at the door of their trailer, which is right next to the campsite trailer, and Dave is right outside of it now. She welcomes Brittany with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Kurt's good?" Santana asks her. They're talking to each other, but Dave can still hear them.

"Out cold," Brittany replies, not sounding too happy about it. "He'll probably sleep through the whole day."

"This way is better for him, you know that," Santana tells her sweetly.

Dave doesn't move; he wants to hear more about this. He glances over his shoulder and notices that Brittany seems to be slightly upset, and Santana's caressing her hair in a caring fashion. Neither of them seem to notice that he's still around, or maybe they do, but they don't mind.

And he realizes that, seeing them like that, Dave can't help feeling glad for them being able to be together here.

"I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it, you know, seeing him like that," Brittany says, and then Dave hears the sound of a sloppy kiss, but this time he doesn't turn around. He doesn't want to meddle in Santana and Brittany's affairs.

"I know, honey. I know. Let's change our clothes, alright? And later, shower!"

They disappear inside their trailer and Dave doesn't hear anything else. He resumes his work and goes to pick some chairs and tables so they all will have somewhere to crash together once they're done with their work.

He starts doing that as his brain obviously continues to work even more, trying to figure out who the mysterious Kurt is.

Kurt's knocked out, drugged. _Sedated_, Dave tells himself. Kurt has to be some kind of guy with violent abilities or something. Though maybe not, because if he was, none of them would probably be showing so much concern for him. So far, all the people Dave saw talking about Kurt had a caring fashion instead of a scared or cautious one, the one they should have if Kurt was dangerous to them. Dave's now more puzzled, and therefore, more curious.

* * *

Kurt wakes up in his bed and blinks repeatedly, trying to snap out of his drowsy state. He notices that his trailer is illuminated by a lamp that someone had brought in at some point, so Kurt assumes it's already dark outside. He doesn't even bother to look through the window.

He yawns, sitting up straight in his bed, and scratches his hair. He can't hear anything but the crickets outside, and for that, he's glad. Kurt's always a bit nervous about their accommodations in every town stay at, and even if nothing ever goes wrong, he can't help feeling a bit anxious when they stay somewhere that's not their camp in the middle of nowhere.

Kurt gets up from his bed and got a glass, filling it from his barrel of water in order to quench his parched throat. He's been sleeping for who knows how many hours. He reminds himself that he needs to ask Sam to take his father's pocket watch to a watchmaker to get it fixed. Sam said he's going to do some shopping in town and that he could take it, but so far, no one has come to wake him or to leave him dinner, so Kurt assumes that the guys hadn't had dinner yet.

Kurt gets his favorite Billie Holliday record and puts it in his record player. He sings along _Carelessly_ while he gets Rachel's outfit off one of the two mannequins he has with him, and sits behind his sewing machine. He has to fix it for tomorrow's show. It would be done already if Rachel didn't want her corset exactly like the one he did for Mercedes. At least they agreed to use different colors. Even if Kurt designed all the costumes in the same fashion, he made every outfit to look different; they can't have two performers looking exactly the same.

When he places the corset under the needle, his left hand trembles slightly Kurt takes a deep breath, relaxing as much as it's possible in order to keep his hand quiet. He doesn't really have time to make another corset for tomorrow, or to wash blood off it, in case his fingers end up under the needle.

Kurt starts sewing the black loop fringe in the borders of Rachel's silver corset, while a blurred image of Finn appears in his head.

"Focus, just focus," Kurt mutters to himself as he does his best to ignore the pictures inside his head. It's only one person. Kurt could handle that easily.

But the images start taking better shape as obviously someone is getting closer to his trailer. Kurt closes his eyes and he sees it.

"_You looked really pretty today - you always do," Finn tells Rachel, while they are in the outside, just the two of them standing in the middle of the camp. Everyone else went back to their trailers._

"Thanks. My outfit looks beautiful now," Kurt whispers, and shakes his head quickly. He stops working on Rachel's corset right away.

He's still a bit drowsy; he slept a lot and the sleeping pills always leave him in a haze after waking up.

It's just one person, and he's aware he can do it; he can function just fine in the company of up to three people. Still, he's dozy he doesn't want to take the chance of getting distracted and sewing his finger into Rachel's corset.

Rachel's obviously coming to his trailer, probably to have dinner together, and Kurt does his best to look like he's completely fine, since he's really fine. There's nothing wrong with him. It doesn't take him much to concentrate; he pushes those images out of his head, so he can ignore them, and by the time Rachel shows up at his door, carrying a tray with two plates of chicken wings and salad, plus a slice of pie, that's actually all what Kurt sees: Rachel standing in front of him with a wide smile and carrying a tray with food, instead of seeing Finn staring at him with an adoring gaze and holding his hands. Well, not _him_; Finn's staring at _Rachel_ and holding _her_ hands.

"People in this town are really lovely," she says, stepping inside. "They all brought us delicious homemade food."

Kurt's trailer is completely packed as usual. His vanity desk, plus the mannequins, the table for the sewing machine, his bed, and his closet doesn't leave much room for anything else. In addition, there's a large amount of fabrics, and boxes with buttons, trims, and reel threads, plus a few pieces of the costumes he's currently working on or fixing. There's barely any room to walk around.

He tried to empty it a little in the past, with the help of his friends. They used to point out quite often how _overloaded_ his trailer was. Kurt never really noticed that he kept on filling his trailer with everything he could; mostly costumes and furniture. Yet, every time he emptied it, he quickly started bringing stuff back from the costume trailer.

Kurt just feels more comfortable this way. The more enclosed his trailer is, the more relaxed Kurt feels.

He had never had a particular liking for enclosed places in the past. When he lived with his family, he actually had a huge bedroom. That changed though when he joined the circus. They're constantly traveling, and you never knew who's around. Kurt stopped liking open places long ago, and he's aware that layers of dresses and jackets hanging in his walkway are not going to stop him from getting visions if people came close to him, but for some reason that Kurt can't explain, while being confined in his trailer, the smaller it looked, the safer he felt. His friends understood that, thankfully. Everything's in perfect order though. Just because his trailer is packed with stuff, Kurt doesn't like to live in a mess; he knows exactly where everything is.

He turns the record player off and places it on the bed, leaving the table empty for the two of them. Rachel sets the food on the table, and they both sit together.

"Did they help you put the tent up or are you guys still working tonight?" Kurt inquires, taking a bite of his salad.

Rachel smiles. "The tent is up, so we can all catch a good rest tonight for tomorrow's show. How have you been?"

_Rachel stares at their hands locked together. She rubs her thumb over Finn's fingers, biting her lower lip. She tries to avoid his gaze, even if it's hard. She loves the way that their hands feel together._

"I-I j-just woke up," Kurt informs her, ignoring his visions. "I don't know how long I've been out. What time is it?"

"Quarter to nine."

"I slept like for eleven hours."

"People invited us to a dance; half of the guys went over there, but the rest of us stayed here. Some other people came to see us and talk to us for a bit, and brought food for us as well," she tells him. "Which is good, since none of us wanted to cook tonight."

Kurt has never been outside for any arrival to any town they had been to, but knows from his friends –and for what his visions sometimes let him know- that people tend to be very kind to them. Kurt assumes that with the disastrous economy, the citizens of the small towns where they offer their shows are simply grateful for their presence, just to offer them excitement, and a unique distraction from their everyday problems.

He offers Rachel a tender smile as he sips on his water. "That's nice. I'm glad you're enjoying your stay here."

"I believe tomorrow we're going to have a very receptive audience. And guess what? We had to add a new show on Sunday!"

Kurt grins, happily. Not every day they sell out or need to add an extra show. The economy is always a bit tight wherever they go, so Kurt can't be happier about that. "That's terrific!"

_The summer breeze makes her shiver; so do the few inches that separate her lips from Finn's. Suddenly there's music on; they can hear the trumpets of Louis Armstrong's 'All of Me' in the distance. Someone just put the record on._

"_Did you set this up?" Rachel inquires in a whisper._

_Finn grins, but shakes his head no. "I guess someone's not feeling very sleepy. But I've got to admit that these lyrics are really accurate for this moment."_

Kurt grimaces and takes a deep breath. He hurries to find some words to fill the silence so he won't be left alone with his visions. It's never good to be in silence when he's in the company of someone else; all the images found a quicker way to his brain. Kurt curses himself; he shouldn't have turned the music off. If it was still on, he could have something else to focus on. He's really not interested in seeing this.

"So how is the new guy doing?" Kurt asks, with the intention of sidetracking himself from his own head.

Rachel seems taken back at the question, but she quickly smiles at him. "Good. David seems to be adapting very well to us. It's been only two days, but so far, I think he likes it. And we all like him too. He's not very talkative, but he's nice."

Kurt chuckles. "Not everyone likes to tell the story of their lives to the first person they meet," Rachel glares at him, and Kurt presses his lips together to stop from laughing. He's pretty sure that Rachel has already told David all about her life.

"He may be a new member, but he's still one of us. To me he's not a stranger."

"But you are to him."

He knows that someone new has joined them; not only because William asked him previously how he would feel about having someone new with them - just like he asked everyone else - but also because he had already seen it. He hasn't met David Karofsky yet, but some days ago, when Mike shared lunch with him, Kurt saw him talking with 'Dave' about music in Blaine and Sebastian's old trailer. Finn and Sam were also there. Last weekend he also saw Rachel standing at a deserted gas station with William by her side, asking the employee to join them. He didn't see more than that, but that was enough.

So when William told him that he was considering recruiting a new member of the circus, Kurt already knew it was going to happen. He didn't tell William though. Kurt does his best not to let anyone know about the future he sees about them, unless it's something bad that has to be prevented, or modified. Or when William's going to win at the racecourse, since they always need the money. Sometimes, though, a few hints slips from his lips.

Kurt is aware that he and Dave are going to have to meet eventually. If Dave gets to be part of the show, Kurt will have to at least make his costume, but surely they will be introduced to each other before that happens. So far, no one has told him about Dave's ability and Kurt hasn't asked either. It's not like he doesn't care; it's just that the idea of someone new around them, being part of the routine that Kurt and the rest of his friends worked so hard to build, makes him anxious.

All of them have gone through the process of receiving a new member to the circus, himself included. Since Kurt joined the circus four years ago Jesse, Tina, and Quinn have joined them. In the meantime, Jesse and Blaine left as well. Kurt doesn't know how well the new guy is adjusting, since it's always takes time to get used to the people, the traveling, and the strange routines that come with circus life. In his particular case though, Kurt is fairly sure that when he arrived, the entire circus had had to adapt to his presence, instead of the other way around.

He will never be able to tell his friends how grateful he feels everyday for letting him be part of their lives. There are no words to express his infinite gratitude. Ever since the first day, his friends had showed nothing but concern and care towards him, and did everything necessary to make him feel comfortable and safe.

But now, just like it happened with Jesse, Tina, and Quinn, David's here and it reminds Kurt all the trouble his friends went through and still go through to make him feel at ease. Kurt doesn't believe that his friends are going to let some stranger compromise the fragile mental stability that Kurt struggled so hard to get, so he sees no threat in David. What Kurt sees, is yet another person who's going to have to adapt to the awkward routine that he and others need to carry on with due to his so poorly controlled ability.

Everything turned out alright with Jesse, Tina, and Quinn, so Kurt believes it's going to be the same with David. However, unlike with the old new members, so far no one has told Kurt much about this David guy, but Kurt doesn't really mind. One way or the other Kurt will find out sooner or later. Whether he finds out the information today or sometime next week, works just the same for Kurt.

"Did William find an act for him?" Kurt inquires, cautiously.

"Oh, no, it's still too soon," Rachel replies. "So far, he's a companion and a handyman, just like all of us have been at first." Everyone but him, Kurt thinks, but doesn't say it. He's too busy being relieved at the prospect of having some more time before someone new gets to be pushed to adjust to his life.

"Is that a new corset?" Rachel asks suddenly, in an excited tone of voice, pointing at one of Kurt's mannequins and Kurt's jaw tightens. She can't be serious.

Once again, Rachel is checking out the clothes that don't belong to her.

"It is. Not for you though."

Rachel pouts at him, and Kurt rolls his eyes. "Why not? It's so pretty!"

Kurt cannot believe this. "Rachel! I'm finishing the corset you asked me to make for you _just a few days ago!_ You can't just change your mind right now. You wanted one like Mercedes' and now you want this?"

"But Kurt, look at its color! Is it… blue or dark grey? Lord, I can't believe its color! It would go well with my silver skirt!"

"It's _Prussian blue_," Kurt corrects her. He's making new outfits for the trapeze act and he specifically choose that color since Quinn, Sam, and Noah need to stand out, considering they were high in the air while they perform, being the tent white and performing during daytime, and they all have to match somehow. While the boys will be dressed the same way while Quinn will a strapless corset, and soon, a skirt. All suits Prussian blue, with silver adornments. "Her outfit has to match with Noah's and Sam's since they're in the same act. I can't give Quinn's skirt to you, Rachel."

"Kurt, please! I-"

"You know that when you want something new for your outfit, you can always come to me," he cuts her off, sternly. "We can always discuss it, and I'll make anything you want. Yet, I agreed to alter your outfit the way _you _wanted, yet again, just days ago, and I'm just finishing your new corset. I'm not going to change it, or make a whole new one when I'm nearly finishing the one you asked me to make for you."

Rachel glares at him and Kurt glares back. Because... seriously? It takes effort and time to make a whole corset, and it's not like Kurt has something that busies him, but he'd like to take a break from sewing most of the time he's awake.

"And you need to stop wanting the clothes I make for the other girls," Kurt finishes.

Kurt's actually very tired of having to constantly alter Rachel's outfit. Every time they plan a new outfit together, Rachel's always convinced that it's be best outfit of the whole show. Of course, that's until she sees the golden buttons he used for Brittany's jacket, and she wants those - or maybe the whole jacket- or she notices that Santana has not a skirt, but some short red pants, and wants a pair, or she loves the skirt of feathers that Tina has and she wants something like that, or the corset that Mercedes has now, or the corset that he's currently sewing for Quinn.

"But it's too pretty! I could wear it for tomorrow's show!"

"No, Rachel. It's not yours and it's not even finished yet."

"It looks finished to me."

"It's still pinned. There are plenty parts of it that I haven't sewn yet."

Rachel glares at him. "You're saying that so I won't wear it tomorrow."

Kurt sighs, defeated, and finishes his salad. He ignores the way that Rachel's adoringly gazing at Quinn's corset, like she's expecting Kurt to pity her and give in. But Kurt remains impassive, since he learned long ago not to fall into Rachel's sweet talk. First of all, because Sam's and Noah's outfits are almost done, and they match with Quinn's. Rachel is not in the trapeze act, and Kurt won't have the same outfits in different acts. If he gives the Prussian blue corset to Rachel, he will have to make three new matching outfits for Sam, Noah and Quinn, and he's not going to do that just to please Rachel. Plus, Kurt's very happy with his trapeze costumes and Noah, Sam and Quinn are really happy with them two.

And this is certainly not the most beautiful corset that Rachel has seen; that's probably going to be the next one he makes for some of the other girls.

_Rachel break the kiss with a gasp. Finn tries to kiss her again, but she steps back, untangling their hands._

"_We shouldn't do this," Rachel whispers. "We know how it ends."_

"_It can be different. We love each other, why can't we be together?"_

"We hurt each other too much," Kurt mutters. "It doesn't have to be this way, if you let me, I could- It's always this way, Finn. Rach, please, don't tell me-"

"Focus, Kurt. Focus," Rachel tells him firmly, and Kurt blinks, stepping out from his trance.

He swallows hard, and nods. "Sorry. I'm still a bit in a haze… the pills and the silence… I should have left the music on."

"It's alright," she says with a tender voice. Rachel holds his hand over the table, squeezing it. "You don't have to worry about it."

Kurt worries though, and feels guilty. He hates not being able to control his ability, especially when he's with Rachel, since she has spent infinite hours helping him to take control of it. Ever since they met, Kurt has made some huge improvements in regards to his visions, but considering how much time Rachel invested in helping him within the last four years, Kurt still believes that it's not enough and that he's letting Rachel down.

"It's late. You should go and get some rest, Rachel," Kurt tells her, deciding that he needs to be alone for awhile. "And I still need to finish your corset. Come pick it up before the show, alright?" Thankfully, Rachel knows him enough to read between lines, and nods.

Kurt loves her for that.

"I will."

"Dinner was good," Kurt points out, placing the empty plates in the tray. "Hopefully, people will be equally kind tomorrow and none of you will have to cook."

Rachel takes the tray, standing up. Kurt walks her to the door, and when she steps outside, she turns around, staring at Kurt with curious eyes.

"It was about Finn and me, right?" she inquires, trying to sound casual about it.

Kurt sighs, and as usual, he refuses to tell her about her future, no matter the amount of pleading and hope lighting her eyes. "Isn't it always?"

He doesn't want to be rude, but even Kurt, who's forced to be far away from everyone else and doesn't share his friends' routines, is tired of Rachel and Finn's never ending love story. The others have told him how sick of them they are as well, since they're pretty much in love with each other, but they keep getting together and then breaking up. It grows exhausting when you share your life everyday with thirteen other people. Well, fourteen now.

Rachel looks away, but she nods. "Sleep well, Kurt."

"You too, Rach."

Kurt closes the door, and puts the phonograph back on the table, turning the music on. He smiles relaxed as Billie Holiday's voice filled his ears. Kurt sits behind the sewing machine and takes a look at his left hand; it's slightly trembling again so he takes a few deep breaths. He relaxes and, slowly, his hand starts to still, not completely though but it hardly ever stays still for real. But Kurt grins at this small achievement. He likes these small victories over himself; they help him to test his concentration, even more when he has to sew by hand. Sequins are really a challenge, and Kurt got to do plenty of outfits with sequins. So with this peace of mind, he continues to work on Rachel's corset.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kurt wakes up in the middle of the afternoon. Or at least, he believes so, since he still doesn't have his pocket watch. He gave it to Sam earlier in the day when they shared breakfast. Kurt stayed awake all night finishing Rachel's corset, and he took a break to have breakfast with Sam. He said he was going to promenade in town after the show in order to find some strings for his guitar. Hopefully, Sam will find a watchmaker and Kurt will have his watch fixed before they leave Aurora.

After Sam left, Kurt kept on sewing until he finished Rachel's corset and then he went to bed.

When he gets up, and as a habit, he puts music on. He picks Ether Waters this time and as the music starts filling the silence of his trailer, Kurt proceeds as yet another habit, to change his clothes into one of his several circus outfits.

He made most of his clothes; he always liked the theatrical side that the circus provided and since he doesn't actually need to walk in public, he can avoid wearing boring and conventional clothes. All his clothes have glimpses of the circus on, but in the days that the New Directions Circus hold their shows, Kurt always puts some of the costumes he made for himself like he's part of the show, even if he doesn't perform.

Kurt has always dreamed about performing; he and Brittany have talked for long about how their supposed act would be. Kurt is in love with Lily and he'd love to perform with her.

Every now and then Brittany takes Lily to his trailer. Not inside, of course since she wouldn't fit inside, but right to his door so Kurt can step outside and stay with her and Brittany. Because of Brittany, Lily lets Kurt to caress her, hug her and kiss her, and they have even rehearsed their dreamed act; Kurt did stick his head inside the tiger's mouth more than once.

He and Brittany have talked about how their matching costumes could be as well, but even if the idea is lovely, Kurt is aware that it's never going happen.

He never made matching costumes with Brittany, but he made his own ones. Even if he can't perform, he wears them every day his friends have a show. It makes him feel he's part of the New Directions Circus, even if he's far from the circus tent and people will never get to see him.

Ethel Water is singing _Stormy Weather_ when Kurt finishes putting his costume on. Being happy with his look, Kurt smiles, sitting in front of his vanity to fix his hair.

"_-Life is bare, gloom and mis'ry everywhere, stormy weather,"_ Kurt sings along. _Just couldn't get my poor self together, I'm weary all the time, so weary all-_ Oh, Christ, no."

He notices on the reflection of the mirror, that Rachel didn't pick her modified corset while he was sleeping… she took Quinn's.

Kurt lets out a frustrated groan. Obviously, being her stubborn self, Rachel didn't believe him when Kurt told him that the corset wasn't finished.

Kurt stands up, and opens the curtains to look through his window. In the distance, he sees people around the circus tent; there is a small crowd gathered at the tent's entrance, waiting to go inside since the show is going to start soon.

He hopes that Rachel will pinch herself when she puts the corset on, or that maybe Quinn will notice that she was wearing her corset and make her take it off. Yet, Rachel is sneaky and she could easily put it on right before her act, not leaving Quinn any time to complain.

Either way, Kurt expects Rachel to show up in his trailer soon to pick her corset. Several parts of Quinn's are held together with pins, and if Rachel gets to walk on stage with the unfinished piece of clothing, she will end up topless in front of the whole audience as soon as she starts moving.

Kurt believes she deserves the embarrassment, but at the same time, he knows how sensitive Rachel is about performing, and if she ends up in such a shameful situation, she won't ever to get over it. Plus, being half nude in front of a bunch of strangers is not something that a young woman would like to experience.

So Kurt stands by the window, hoping to see her, or maybe one of his friends going to his trailer so he can give them Rachel's corset and warn them about the risk that Rachel is taking by wearing Quinn's unfinished one.

But Ethel Waters keeps on singing in the background; with every song that passes, time goes by as well and the show gets closer to its start. Kurt sees that the spectators continue to walk inside the tent, and every time there are less people outside.

Kurt grows uneasy.

Rachel deserves the shame, Kurt reminds to himself, but at the same time, Rachel is one of his best friends, and in spite of everything, she doesn't really deserves to end up showing her breast to two hundred strangers.

"Damn it, Rachel," Kurt mutters.

He resolves that he's going to have to walk outside. He doesn't need to get close to the tent or the people; he definitely won't do that of course. He can try going to the camp though. Maybe some of his friends are still there, and Kurt will be able to pass the message to Rachel.

The thought of being outside scares the hell out of him, so takes the brown bottle out of the drawer of his vanity, with the 'Chloroform' white label. He pours a little of the transparent liquid over a hand chief -just a little because he doesn't want to end up at hospital again- and puts the wet fabric inside his pocket.

Kurt walks outside, grabbing Rachel's corset in the process and takes a deep breath. He gazes at the camp that seems to be deserted and with hesitant steps, he starts walking towards it.

He's nervous. Lord, he's so nervous that he quickly starts sweating. He's not used to be so far from his trailer; there's a reason why the costume's trailer is located right next to his, and that's because that way Kurt doesn't ever has to go away from his trailer.

Actually, he never goes close to people and that includes his friend's camp.

He looks around and the mere sight of the open terrifies him. The quiet breeze and the sight of the trees and the streets make him shiver. Kurt holds Rachel's corset tighter, just to hold himself onto something and does his best to focus on someone.

He hopes he'll be able to catch one if his friend's future, just to know that at least one of them hasn't gone to the tent already. He really hopes that someone's still in the camp, so he can give them Rachel's corset, and tell them to warn Rachel that the one she took is going to fall off as soon as she starts moving. Or maybe he can ask them to tell Quinn that Rachel has her corset; Quinn will definitely make Rachel to give it back.

But as Kurt gets close to the camp, he can't see anything but the view in front of him, and the only he can hear was the noise of people gathering in the tent.

"Damn it," Kurt mutters anxiously.

He ends up standing in the middle of the circle of trailers, glancing around. He's shaking; all the muscles in his body are strangling themselves in tension. It feels too strange to be here; Kurt can't even remember when the last time he got this close from the camp was. He is very familiar with the camp though, but it's because he sees it constantly in his friends' future, but not because he's ever here. It looks just like it does in his visions; they always park the trailers in the same way.

He fidgets in his place, growing more uneasy.

"Hello? Is someone still here?" Kurt calls out, just in case. "Guys?"

No one answers and it doesn't surprise Kurt. If there was someone here, he would be seeing their future. He can't help hoping though.

Kurt lets out a shaky breath. He should just go back to his trailer; every time there are less and less people around the circus tent. But Kurt can't do much. He is not going to get any closer to the circus tent. There are too many people inside. The mere idea of the whole audience sitting around the ring where his friends will perform shortly, it takes Kurt's breath away.

Still, Kurt takes a few steps forward, trying just to see if he can spot one of his friends. He's still far from people; he can't see anybody in his head, but being outside, knowing how many people are out there… it distresses him too much.

And he's terrified. A few tears roll down his cheeks and a sob escapes from his mouth. He's being stupid again. He knows he can't do things like this so why the hell he acts all stupid again? Like some days ago that he wanted to drive. He wanted to believe he could do that; he wanted to prove himself that he could handle driving. Thank God William didn't allow him to do it.

Kurt can't do things like this.

When he's about to head back to his trailer, Kurt spots Dave standing by the road that separates the land they were given for the show and the baseball pitch. He's simply there, among some viewers that are just arriving. Dave's a little far from the tent, but still among people and too far from Kurt.

They have never been introduced, but Dave could be the last chance to prevent Rachel from showing her bare breast to a sold out audience. Kurt could give Rachel's corset to Dave; Dave would give it to her while Kurt runs back to his trailer, to never, ever go out again.

"David!"

Dave doesn't seem to hear him, and Kurt can't blame him. They are so far from each other that Kurt can't even see his future. Plus, there's always a lot of noise before the show, and in addition, the guys always put loud music on to welcome the audience in the tent.

Kurt bites his lower lip. Maybe if he gets a little closer…

"You can do this," Kurt tells to himself. His voice lacks of confidence, since he's not feeling confident at all. He knows he can't, but he sticks his hand inside his pocket, feeling the wet fabric in his fingers and takes a few shaky steps forwards.

He'll get just a little closer. Close enough for Dave to be able to hear him when he calls him, but far from people so he won't see their future. He'll only have to see Dave's future and Kurt can handle that. There are no people around Kurt, and he doesn't need to get that close from people either, but if things get ugly, he'll knock himself out with the sweet chloroform in his pocket.

Kurt can't help feeling scared, but he starts walking in the direction that Dave is standing, constantly checking on his surroundings just to be sure that no one will come anywhere near him. He needs to be at least a hundred and fifty feet from everyone in order to keep his mind quiet, which is a lot but as he can see, he's keeping that distance so far.

He thanks William inside his head for always keeping the longest distances between himself and the world.

_A woman is standing on in the kitchen, cooking dinner. There are noises coming from upstairs, and she groans upset as she cuts the carrots._

"_Kids! Just cut it out!_

Kurt's breath picks up, and he stares at his sides. There's a car driving close to him, right on the field and Kurt curses them. Why aren't they using the road?

"David!" Kurt calls out again, growing desperate. "David!"

_The man is in his office. A pile of papers are in his desk and he sighed at the amount of work that is in front of him. The door opened, and a blond woman with perfect curls, walks inside wearing a black corset and red blouse walked inside. _

"_Hey, Richard," she greets, smirking, and closing the door behind her. "You wanted to see me?" She asks with a flirtatious tone of voice and Richard eyes at her, getting up from his chair._

"Hey, gorgeous. I always want to see you," Kurt mutters, and shakes his head, trying to get rid of those images.

He lowers his head, in order not to see who this woman or this man are. But he watches out of his corner of his eye; a shinny red car passes by him. The visions are even clearer and stronger, as the car passes by him and the fade as soon as the car dries away from him. Kurt trembles at the sudden assault of more visions than he can handle, and pants, looking up. He sees a nice looking family parking a car next to the circus tent. A brunette woman with two kids get out of the car, and the Richard guy does the same.

Kurt stares at Dave, who is still among the people and Kurt stops in his place. He can't and won't get any closer. Not being nervous as he is. He can hardly control his visions normally, but it works even worse when he's anxious.

Maybe just a few more feet…

He's still far from Dave, but far from the tent as well. So he walks forwards, just a bit. He can call for Dave, and if people start getting closer, he'll run back to the camp.

Although, he should run back to his trailer right now. He really can't cope with his fear anymore.

But Kurt keeps on walking, and he freezes when he spots a truck filled with people, driving in his direction. They're going to pass by him. They're going to pass by him, and the panic he's feeling paralyzes, not allowing Kurt to move. He feels unable to either walk forwards or run back to the camp.

This was a terrible idea. He should have let Rachel get what she deserves for being sneaky, and for stealing Quinn's corset.

"DAVID!" Kurt shouts at the top of his lungs out of desperation, clutching at the wet hand chief inside his pocket. His eyes are fixed on the truck that is now passing by right in front of him.

The truck parks just a few feet in front of him, and several young guys and girls who are sitting in the back of the truck jump to the ground.

Kurt gasps.

He can't see anything but the view in front of him.

* * *

Dave smiles at the people that passed by him. He's not wearing any circus clothing, but it seems that some people recognize him from the previous day, since they all nod at him as a way to greet him while they pass by, heading to the tent.

He's standing on the streets anyways. Dave's aware that he can't get near to the tent during the show, but he has learned to calculate at guess the distance he has to keep from the circus's guys.

He's sure that he's doing it right; otherwise, someone would have walked outside to let him know that he's too close to them. At least Rachel would notice that she can't read his friend's minds, even if she shouldn't.

There are sill some people outside the tent, and Dave is not sure if they're arriving late or something. As far as he knows, the show is supposed to star in fifteen minutes and people keep on arriving.

It's the first time that Dave gets to see how a show day is and even if he's not part of the show, Dave's enjoying himself. There's a cheerful mood in the air that is contagious. The guys were jolly this morning, and all these strangers seem to be the same way. The atmosphere is chilled and happy, and he may not perform in the show, but he's part of the circus that brings.

It's nice to be someone who can do that.

The tent looks nice put up. It's plain white, and even if they all said that the circus is not a big one, the tent looks big enough to Dave. Definitely, it's the prettiest thing that Dave helped to built up. This plain white tent is by far better than any house or building that Dave worked on during the days he got daily jobs at some construction.

"DAVID!"

Dave turns around as he hears his name being called in the distance. Definitely, it didn't come from the tent since he's in front of it and he can't see any of his friends there.

So Dave walks around, trying to spot someone familiar and he stills instantly when his gaze lays upon Kurt's figure. Is it possible that that's Kurt? Does Kurt know him or his name?

He sees Kurt standing far from him, and he isn't even looking at him. Instead, Kurt is very much still, with his eyes fixed on a truck filled with young boys and girls that are now getting out from the vehicle.

Dave's not sure if he should walk towards him; he wants to, so he can finally meet Kurt and get rid of the constant curiosity. But he doesn't know if his ability is going to harm Kurt. Damn, at this distance, Dave's not sure if he's already cancelling him.

Yet, Kurt called for him –Dave assumes Kurt's the one who called him- so he starts walking towards Kurt.

"Kurt?" Dave calls out, as he gets closer to the other boy. As the distance between them narrows, Dave can notice that Kurt is panting. "Kurt?"

The boy is also holding some piece of black fabric in one hand.

Kurt looks up, and takes a step backwards like he's scared of him, so Dave stays still in his place in order not to frighten the boy. They still don't know each other, and he doesn't know what the deal with Kurt is, or what's going on through his head.

Kurt's acting far from what's normal.

There are only some several feet between each other. Dave can see Kurt very well from here, and far from being deformed, Kurt is actually a very pretty boy. But Dave doesn't pay much attention in the boy's look; unlike the first time he met the rest of the circus' people, Dave can tell that there's something wrong with this kid.

"Did you call me?" Dave asks, loud enough to be heard, breaking the silence.

Kurt nods quietly, and takes a hesitant step towards him. Kurt gasps, and Dave frowns at Kurt's behavior. Yet, before he can do anything, Kurt hurries towards him, until they're standing right in front of each other. The boy holds Dave's arm tightly, and stares at him with glassy blue eyes, and he's panting as if he was about to cry.

What the hell is happening to this boy?

"Can you hear that?" Kurt whispers with faltering voice.

This is definitely weird. Not the girly voice that comes out from Kurt's mouth, but how low and shaky it sound right now. In addition, the strange question. "What thing?"

A smile quivers in Kurt's face. "Silence. There's nothing."

Dave stares at his sides; there's definitely no silence. There's a lot of noise coming from the circus tent; people are hustling to get inside since the show is about to start and even if they're standing around half block away from it, he can still hear the noise.

"Are you alright?" Dave asks Kurt, hesitantly.

Kurt lets out like it sounds like an abated short laugh. "It's gone," he tells Dave, with a relieved voice, looking almost happy. "I've got to give this to Rachel," Kurt says excitedly, and then he runs away from him.

Dave turns around to watch the strange guy speeding in direction to the circus' tent. Dave stays in his place, watching him since he knows he's not allowed to go very near to the tent.

He doesn't really know what to think about Kurt. Within the last couple of days, Dave spent a lot of time wondering the way that Kurt was, or looked like, but he definitely wasn't expecting their first meeting to be like that.

He shouldn't have been surprised about finding odd people in the circus since it's… well, a _circus._ Yet, out of all the people he has met since he joined the New Directions, Dave can tell that Kurt's the weirdest one. Probably it's because he still has no clue about who is Kurt, even if he just saw him. But Rachel was weird at first, until he got to know her and her abilities. Now, she's just a pretty much average girl to him, just like the rest of the guys are, even if they all have extraordinary gifts.

Dave shrugs.

The show is about to start, and there's nothing much he can do until it ends, so Dave decides to head back to the camp. He glances at Kurt once last time, but he quickly frowns when he sees that the boy didn't get into the tent to meet Rachel, like he said he was going to.

Instead, Kurt is pacing around in front of the tent's entrance; walking around erratically, back and forwards, and Dave sees people giving him weird gazes.

From what Dave can appreciate at this far distance, Kurt has his head bent down, and seemed to be talking to himself. He drops the black fabric to the ground, and takes his hands to his head, covering his ears. Dave takes a step closer, perplexed, trying to figure out what's going on with Kurt until Kurt grows incredibly still. He seems talking louder, none stop; Dave can even hear him even if he can't make up what he's saying. People that are walking by Kurt stare at him with apprehension.

Dave's torn between going to see if Kurt's alright –he clearly isn't- and stay where he is. Kurt's right next to the tent, in an area that Dave shouldn't step on in order to prevent his mates from loosing their abilities.

It gets worse when an old man approaches Kurt, apparently concerned and touches the boy on his shoulder. Kurt jerks away, yelling "Don't touch me! Stay away from me!" so loud that Dave hears him perfectly.

Before Dave knows what's happening, he sees Kurt sticking his hand inside the pocket of his pants, taking something out of it. Whatever is that he took, Kurt uses it to cover his mouth and nose and after just a few seconds, Kurt collapses onto the ground.

"Shit," Dave hisses, and starts running towards him, forgetting completely about the safe distance he has to keep from his friends.

A curious group start surrounding the fallen boy, and Dave has to elbow his way to Kurt. When he finally reaches the boy, he freezes as he sees Kurt, lying on the ground, unconscious.

Dave's breath picks up, nervous, and he kneels down in front of Kurt, trying to figure out what to do. He doesn't understand what just happened, so he quickly grows anxious as he realizes that he has no clue about what to do now with Kurt.

He bends over him, placing his ear over the boy's face. He feels Kurt's warm breathe against his skin, and Dave sighs relieved, knowing that at least Kurt's alive.

"Excuse me! Excuse me."

Dave looks up as he hears William's voice. "William! William, it's Kurt! He's sick or something!"

"What? Please, excuse me," William's voice sounds firmer and louder, until he finally makes his way among people. He's completely dressed in his emcee costume, but Dave is too busy worrying about the kid passed out in front of him to pay attention in that. Dave only catches William's red jacket.

"Oh, Jesus, Kurt!" William breaths out as he keels down as well, on the other side of the boy and right in front of Dave.

"He's breathing. I don't know what happened, he just-"

"This," William cuts him off, holding the hand chief that is laying in the ground next to Kurt's hand. "Oh, Kurt. What are you even doing here?" he whispers, carefully running his hand through the boy's hair.

"What's that?"

William looks up to the people who are standing around them, curiously watching the whole scene. He forces a smile. "Everything is fine, ladies and gentleman. I'm sorry for this little inconvenience; our boy Kurt came down with a fever."

Dave frowns at William. Kurt is unconscious right in front of them! And definitely it's not a fever.

"Please, go inside the tent and take your seats. The show is about to start," William tells them in a very good humored mood and for some reason, Dave grows pissed.

Kurt's still passed out _there_ and Dave still doesn't know what to do about it, while William is being so casual, talking to people about the show. Sure, they need to perform in order to get money, but Kurt's right there sick or something!

The people around them nod, not very convinced and some of them start moving away. Some of them walk inside the tent, while just a few others stay around, to watch the scene.

"Can you carry him?" William asks him in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Dave replies instantly and picks Kurt up from the floor. He holds him in bridal style; the boy weighs nothing.

"Let's take him away from here," William tells him hurriedly, but as soon as they start walking away, they hear Finn's voice.

"Hey, what's going on? Dave, man, I don't want to be rude but we can't do anything in here."

They look around to find Finn approaching them, on his costume as well. Noah and Mercedes are walking behind him. They didn't come out from the tent from the entrance that the public is using, so Dave guesses that there's another way out from the tent in the back of it.

"Oh, Jesus. Kurt?" Mercedes exclaims, as she notices the boy in Dave's arms.

Their faces fall, and they gape at the same time. The three of them run towards them, looking almost frightened.

"What happened? Is Kurt alright? William, tell me-" Mercedes gushes out, running her hands anxiously over the boy's face.

"He's fine, Mercedes. I'll explain later. Let's go, Dave," William tells them hurriedly, motioning him to walk in direction to the camp.

"No! Kurt's here and hurt," Noah stated, exasperated. "What the hell happened? What is he doing here?"

Dave rolls his eyes, unbelieving. He's standing in front of a circus tent, with four people with special abilities dressed with corsets, colorful jackets, tight pants, hats, high fitted boots, while he's holding an unconscious boy in his arms, after witnessing the most awkward situation with this kid.

What on earth has happened with his life? Three days ago, he was just an average guy who worked in a lousy gas station.

"We have to take him away from here, alright?" William grits between his teeth. Dave can sense some distress in his voice. "David, please. I walk you and you tell me what happened."

They start heading towards the camp, and Finn, Mercedes and Noah follow them.

"I don't know what happened," Dave says honestly, looking down. If he didn't know that Kurt's actually completely passed out in his arms, he would say that he's just sleeping. "I heard him calling me."

"He called you?" Finn inquires, bewildered. "Like, calling you? You were outside."

Dave starts feeling pretty much pissed off. How he's even supposed to know what the hell just happened if he doesn't know what the hell is going on with the guy he's carrying in his arms? His patience grows thinner every second that passes.

"He called me," Dave repeats, doing his best not to snap. "And yes, he was outside. He was close to the camp."

Suddenly, everyone is staring at him like he's crazy.

"He never goes outside," Noah points out.

This is exactly what's quickly infuriating Dave. He doesn't even know what's the big deal about Kurt being outside; he is not supposed to be there? They are all asking Dave for explanations about things that no one took the time to explain to him in the first place.

"Well, obviously he did," Dave finally snaps, pointing at Kurt with his head. "I don't even know him, but there he was. I heard him calling me, and when I turned around he was just standing in front of a truck filled with people. He was looking odd."

"How did he get to the tent?" Mercedes asks him.

Dave shrugs, moving Kurt in his arms to get him in a more comfortable position to carry him, since the boy starts growing heavier as they keep on walking. He didn't realize how far is the camp from the tent. "He just ran to it."

Mercedes snorts. "He would never do that," she states, skeptically.

Dave glares at her. "Well, he did. I saw it. No one dragged him there."

"But-"

"Did you two run against each other?" William asks.

"Yeah, he-"

"That's why, Mercedes."

Dear Lord, will they ever stop talking in riddles? They can't keep the Kurt secret for much longer, right? He's holding the boy, the_ unconscious_ boy right in his arms.

Dave sighs loudly. "He called me and he looked odd," he tells them. They obviously worry about this guy, so Dave prefers to let them know what happened. "I have _no clue_ about what he can do, so I wasn't sure if I should approach him, but I did. As I said, he was weird."

They reach the camp, and William looks around, scratching the back of his head. "We should take him to his trailer. It will be better if he wakes up there," he says, sounding upset.

"I can take him."

William nods. "I'll walk you."

"We'll walk you too," Finn states firmly and Dave is not sure if they're distrusting him, or if they're simply very protective of Kurt.

"How weird was he acting? I mean, he's usually weird," Finn tells him, and Mercedes smacks him on his arm. "I'm not saying I mind, but he is, Mercedes."

"I don't know how weird he usually is. I've met him just minutes ago," Dave reminds them all. "He was just off. Then he said some random stuff. I asked him if he was calling for me, and he nodded so don't ask me how, but he knew me. He told me it was silent, and I didn't get what he meant, but then he laughed and said he had to give something to Rachel and he ran away. But then he reached the tent, he started pacing around, acting all crazy. Talking to himself and then he started yelling, and then he took something out of his pocket and put it in his face and he passed out."

The guys exchange a look and say nothing. No one says anything else until they reach Kurt's trailer. William opens the door for him, and Dave walks in. So far he hasn't seen how his mates' trailers look in the inside, but Kurt's is… very much packed.

He doesn't look around much though. Instead, he spots the bed right away and he carefully deposits Kurt on it, sitting down in a chair of the vanity desk that's next to the bed. He's tired; the boy doesn't weigh much, but he carried him for quite a long distance.

William walks inside, and so does Mercedes. Finn and Noah stay by the door.

"Would it be too much if I asked you to stay here, David? With him?"

"What?" Mercedes intercedes. "Kurt doesn't know him."

"He shouldn't wake up alone after this, Mercedes. Someone needs to check if he's alright and we have to perform. Considering the recent events, it could be good if David's around."

"But Kurt still doesn't know what-"

"Not to be rude, but can someone explain to me what the hell it's going on? And please, stop talking like I'm not in here," Dave cuts them off, sharply.

He never gets mad like this, but he's quite sick of this Kurt thing. Maybe, fifteen minutes ago it wasn't Dave's business but that changed when Kurt actually called him, went all kinds of crazy and passed out in front of his eyes. Or in the moment that Dave ran to ail him, and carried all the way to his trailer.

Dave thinks that the least he deserves is some answers.

They all stare at him, and fortunately, instead of looking mad at him, they look slightly guilty.

William nods slowly. "I promise we'll tell you everything later. But can you stay here in case he wakes up? He might sleep through the whole show, so maybe we'll be back before he wakes up. But in case he does, I don't want him to wake up alone."

Dave looks up at William, who's staring at him with hopeful eyes. Dave's actually glad that he's finally going to receive some answers, and he would stay here even if they didn't offer for any. This boy doesn't look like he should be waking up alone, and the guys need be in the show.

"If he wakes up, is there anything I should do?"

"Water. Give him water. There's his bucket," Mercedes says, pointing at the bucket by the vanity desk.

"He'll be a little unsettled at first, but he'll quickly come up to his senses and he might be scared at first; disoriented. Last thing he remembers is being in the open, so waking up in here will be at first, confusing until he starts putting his thoughts in order," William tells him. "I believe he saw you already, so he knows you from before. Tell him we'll be back soon. But I don't think he'll wake up."

Dave nods. "Alright."

"Kids, lets go. People are waiting for us. Kurt's going to be fine, I promise."

Mercedes approaches the sleeping boy, and kisses him on his forehead. They give Dave and Kurt one last look, and they leave. Dave sighs, once he's left alone. He stands up and starts checking the place. He's usually not nosy, but Kurt's trailer is pretty much packed with all kinds of stuff, and he doesn't have much to do anyways.

He's not going to open any drawer though.

Dave doesn't have much room to walk around. One of the walls of the trailer has several costumes hung on a long rack, one over the other. He looks at them, since so far he hasn't seen the circus costumes until just a few minutes ago that William, Mercedes, Finn and Noah were wearing them.

All the costumes look actually good. Sure, there are very colorful but they're circus clothing, and it's not just all kinds of shiny colors. It's all in different dark shades of purple, red, blue, then black, lots of fabrics with stripes… all kinds of colors, but nothing flashy. Dave would even say that they looked elegant, and he never thought that circus clothes could be elegant. As Dave watches outfit after outfit, he notices that they all make sense together, since even if they're all different, some patterns are common to all outfits.

Dave looks around, and he finds a sewing machine table. He smiles; he hasn't seen one since he lived with his aunts, and this one looks quite modern. Kurt's the one who sews all the circus costumes? Dave believes he is when he turns around and finds the two mannequins. He has never met a guy who could sew, but… he has never met people who could fly, so little by little, Dave starts loosing his ability to be surprised.

There are several sketches of different circus clothing stuck to one wall, along with some flayers of their presentations in different cities and Dave realizes by now, that Kurt doesn't perform in the show.

He sits at the vanity desk, and stares at the phonograph placed in the table. Kurt's trailer has a similar dinner area to the one he has in his trailer: a table between two banquettes. Dave gets up again, and checks on the phonograph; it has an Ethel Waters record on, and Dave likes this singer. Being obvious that Kurt likes her as well, Dave plays it on in a low volume.

Maybe if Kurt wakes up, the music will keep him relaxed instead of confused and disoriented as William said he could be.

Dave returns to his seat at the vanity desk, that happens to be next to the bed, and for the first time, he takes a good look of Kurt. Being able to observe the kid better, the first thing that Dave notices is that Kurt is also dressed in circus clothes. If Dave didn't know different, he would guess that Kurt performs in the show.

Kurt's wearing the tightest pair of black trousers that Dave has seen in any men, and black fitted boots that end right under his knees. There's a piece of clothing that Dave doesn't know what it is, covering Kurt's waist. It's dark purple, and has two lines of silver buttons in the center of Kurt's belly. That piece of clothing disappears under what seems to be a fitted vest, of a darker shade of purple and the collar of a white shirt comes out from under the vest. Kurt's also wearing a silver neck chief, stuck inside the shirt and he has a black jacket on. Just like most of the pieces of clothing, the jacket is very fitted around Kurt's torso, but it's slightly wider in the bottom, right over Kurt's hips. All the borders of the jacket has been decorated with a thin silver stripe, and even if the jacket is currently open, the jacket has also two lines of buttons and a silver horizontal straight line connecting every pair of them.

In this unusual clothing, the kid looks absolutely stunning. And damn, Kurt's really gorgeous. He's simply laying there, with his eyes closed but he has the most delicate features. White milk skin that seems to be so soft that Dave has to fight against the urge to touch those rosy cheekbones; plump lips that are meant to be kissed and…

_Why does the pretty one has to be the crazy one?_

Dave can't believe his luck. There's a big chance that this kid is not into men, but even if he is, Dave's for sure going staying away from this one. He has a very complicated life; Dave loves sex since when you were poor and frequently homeless, it's the only pleasurable thing you can get for free.

So yes, Kurt's the kind of guy that if Dave could, he'd put his hands on. Yet, something tells him that this boy is someone far too complicated for Dave's liking. And Dave's not at some dark and secret club where he can flirt with someone in order to have sex with them. He's part of a circus whose members seem to be more like a family than just friends, and Dave likes being here. In spite of his annoying ability, for the first time he's in a place where he feels comfortable and even happy. He's never been so lucky in his life like he's now.

Dave found a place where he can have friends, a sort of room for himself, a bed, a roof, food and travel around. He won't compromise it because he happens to find one of the circus' members attractive. Very attractive. He's not going mess with this boy, not only because of the problems that that could bring, but also because Kurt doesn't look like he's someone… _normal_, not even under the circus's standards.

And in any case, Dave is sure that he's not going to get just sex from this kid –if he likes men.

It doesn't take much to Dave to take the idea of having something with Kurt. He really doesn't like complications, so he pushes his desires out of his mind with no efforts.

He has nothing much to do, and eventually the record comes to an end. Dave starts feeling sleepy, and he doesn't even get up to start playing the music again. He crosses his arms over his chest, and little by little, he falls asleep.

But Dave's eyes snaps open when he hears Kurt letting out a deep sigh. He stares at the sleeping boy, who's now slowly moving in his bed, and Dave grabs quickly an empty glass and sinks it in the bucket of water, just in case. Kurt really seems to be about to wake up, and for some reason, it makes Dave feel a bit anxious and a bit excited at the same time.

He stays very still in his place when Kurt finally opens his eyes, and the boy doesn't do much. Kurt has just his eyes open, and he stares around lazily, completely lethargic until he blinks once, twice, and in a quick motion Kurt jumps on his place, sitting straight up, panting.

Dave flinches. "Hey, take this," he says slowly, handing the glass of water to him, but Kurt hasn't noticed that there's someone else with him, so jerks in the bed as soon as he hears Dave's voice.

Kurt turns around, and stares at Dave with apprehension, making Dave feel quite bad. He's not someone scary, right? Why is this kid so jumpy about him? Kurt stares at him with a glimpse of… fear or something when they met outside as well.

"Wha-what-" Kurt stutters, looking at him, and then at his surroundings. "I- don't- where…"

"Please, have this," Dave offers again the glass of water. "It's just water," he clarifies, just in case this kid believes he's trying to poison him or something. Kurt nods slowly and takes the glass of water, drinking all of it.

"You were outside," Dave explains to him, since Kurt really looks quite confused. The boy looks intensely right into Dave's eyes as soon as he hears those words, like he's -once again- scared. "But you passed out or something. William and I brought you here, your trailer. They're in the show now, but they asked me to stay with you so you wouldn't wake up alone. Do you remember that?"

Kurt stays silent for several seconds, and then he nods quietly.

Dave sighs. The boy remains silent, and Dave starts growing uncomfortable. "Do you need anything?"

Kurt shakes his head no, without saying a word and Dave thinks that's just great. He's stuck with a pretty but weird kid, who also hardly speaks, making the whole situation even more uncomfortable than it already is. In addition, Kurt's clutching the glass of water in his hands, not keeping his eyes of Dave. The boy stares at him shamelessly, like Dave's some kind of freak, and if Dave remembers right, he's not the one who was acting like a lunatic before passing out.

"Do I have something in my face?" Dave inquires, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Kurt flinches and shakes his head no, again. Dave rolls his eyes.

"Can you speak at all?" Dave asks, and he knows that this kid can talk since he heard him. He didn't say much, but he at least spoke a few words and this weird silence is really upsetting Dave.

And he's not even surprised when Kurt replies, _nodding._

"I can't see you," Kurt whispers, but Dave hears that and frowns; is this boy suddenly blind? He's staring at him right into the eye, making Dave uncomfortable. How come he can't see him?

Dave waves his hand in front of Kurt's face. The kid moves away, glaring at Dave.

"You can't see?" Kurt rolls his eyes like Dave's stupid and Dave glares back at him, annoyed this time. "I'm sorry, I don't get you."

"I don't know what's going on," Kurt tells him, or to himself with a worried voice, looking away.

Slowly, Dave starts putting all pieces together. He remembers that he has a bad special ability, and that Kurt probably has one too. Whatever that Kurt can do, probably is not working right now because they are next to each other.

"Your abilities are not working?"

Kurt's eyes are quickly fixed back on Dave, and he nods. "How do you know?"

Dave sighs. "When people like you are close to me, they lose the ability to do… you know, what you do," he explains, fidgeting on his seat. "William said I cancel people's abilities, and well, that's mine. I don't know what you can do, but if you can't do it now, it's because I'm here."

The boy's eyes seem like they're about to fall out from their orbits and… has no one told Kurt about him? Dave's aware that for some reason, the guys kept the Kurt deal away from him but he didn't expect that they did the same with Kurt, by keeping 'Dave's deal' away from him as well.

But Kurt knows him. Kurt called him; he knew who he is.

Dave can't help asking. "No one told you about me?"

Kurt shakes his head no. "No one told me what you do," he replies quietly.

"But you know who I am. You recognized me outside."

"I saw you before."

Dave scratches the back of his head. This is getting way too confusing; it's almost like talking to a wall; a very pretty wall but a wall in the end. Everything that this kid says, instead of throw any light on the subject, it only confuses Dave the more.

"The guys say you don't go outside. I never came anywhere near here, so how come you saw me?" Dave asks and then frowns, thinking about this whole thing better. "What is that you do?"

Kurt blinks, like he's surprised about his question. "Did anyone tell you about me?"

Dave snorts. "They don't say anything about you. At least not to me."

The boy swallows hard, and nods, looking suddenly gloomy. "I see the future," Kurt tells him quietly. "People's future."

Dave leans back to his chair; he didn't really expect that. He spent lots of time wondering about what could Kurt do, but he never imagined something like that. It doesn't seem to be something dangerous or anything to treat Kurt as if he was some kind of stick of dynamite ready to explode.

And this kid looks anything but dangerous. In fact, from what Dave gathers this boy looks quite disturbed.

But Dave nods, trying to understand this whole thing. "And you saw me it… some people's future? That's how you know me?"

"Yes. I saw you at some gas station with Rachel and William," the boy says with a low voice. "Then in Blaine and Sebastian's old trailer, with Sam, Finn and Mike."

Dave stares at Kurt, completely dumbstruck. That's incredibly accurate. The 'seeing people's future' sounded vague at first, until now. It's really amazing; he actually saw that happening? It's incredible!

Then he notices that Kurt's right hand is slightly trembling, and once again, he wonders if he looks scary or something.

"You don't have to be afraid," Dave tells him. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You're shaking. Your hand's shaking," Dave says, pointing at Kurt's hand and the boy stares down at it.

Kurt shrugs. "It always does that."

Dave sighs, defeated. This is getting very uncomfortable, and this kid is not helping to make this supposed conversation any easier. What can Dave say about that? Absolutely nothing, since they don't know each other like to ask too many questions. He can't really ask why does his hand shake, or if this always that bad, or how does he manage to do anything if his hand is constantly shaking.

He looks around the trailer and spots the circus costumes. That can be a good conversation topic.

"You make costumes for the show?" Dave inquires, and Kurt, who's still staring at him like he had two noses, nods silently. Dave tries again. "They look good."

"Thank you," Kurt replies, saying nothing else.

Dave decides to give up. Obviously, he's not going to get many words from Kurt, and Dave's not the most talkative person in the world either, but they're both stuck together, alone in a very small room so they could at least talk for a bit. It's weird to stay in silence but Kurt doesn't seem to mind, so Dave won't try in vain to chat with this kid, since the kid is so little responsive.

And Dave remains silent, ignoring how Kurt keeps on staring at him. It does make him feel awkward, and he starts wishing William or someone else showed up right now so he could leave.

They spend the next minutes not talking at all. Dave doesn't know how much time passes, but it seems to be forever until they hear someone knocking at the door.

Kurt jumps in his bed, startling Dave. "Hey, calm down. Must be William or someone."

"I- I'm not used not to see them coming," Kurt replied, panting and Dave doesn't know what that's supposed to mean, but he lets it pass.

Dave gets up, and answers the door. The whole circus crew is standing outside Kurt's trailer, and they're all still in their costumes. The picture is quite bizarre. William, who's in front of the guys, asks him. "How's Kurt?"

"Awake," Dave informs, and he can already see the worried faces in everybody. He still doesn't get what's going on but he reminds to himself that soon, he's going to know. "Want to see him?"

William nods. Dave turns around, and since he hasn't been asked to leave yet, he returns to his seat. "You have visits," he tells Kurt.

Kurt frowns, but he nods. William walks in, followed by Rachel, and when Mercedes walks in as well, Kurt gasps. "Stop. Go away, you're too many," he whispers and Dave hears him, but the others don't seem like they caught what he just said.

Once again, Dave has no clue what that meant, but he pays close attention to the boy, and he's starting to pant, even more when, in spite of the packed state of the room, Finn and Mike manage to walk inside.

"Hey, Kurt," William greets with a tender voice. The boy is now pressed back against the wall, looking scared as hell.

"Please, leave," Kurt mutters, with frightened eyes. "You're too many."

This time, the guys hear him. "It's fine, Kurt," Rachel tells him sweetly. "David's here so you won't have any trouble with us."

Rachel's words don't seem to relax Kurt in the slightest. Kurt's eyes show nothing but terror, and why are they not leaving? Dave gets that they're all worried and concerned, but can't they see this kid is scared as hell? Dave can see this, even if he has no idea about what's going on; the others should be able to notice this as well.

"Kurt, honey it's okay," Mercedes tells him, obviously noticing how upset Kurt's getting.

Kurt instead, shut his eyes close, panting louder and Dave moves to the bed, sitting by Kurt's side. He holds his trembling hand, trying to do something to calm the kid down, but Kurt's hand shakes harder in Dave's.

"Can't you see you're upsetting him!" Dave asks them, exasperated. "He asked you to leave, why are you still here? Just go away!"

William turns around. "Kids, you wait outside."

"But Dave's here," Finn replies. "He can't see our-"

"He's not used to this," William says. "Please, wait outside."

They all look disappointed, but they do walk away, until it's just him, Kurt and William inside the trailer. William sits in the chair that Dave was previously occupying, and Dave whispers to Kurt's ear. "They're gone. You're good now."

Kurt blinks, and opens his eyes. He stares at Dave, swallowing hard. "Thanks," he mumbles, sheepishly.

"We're just two," William intercedes, with a warm smile on his face. "You can handle that."

The boy nods. "Yes. Yes, I can do that."

"How are you feeling? You've got us really scared. We've never thought we were going to find you outside."

"I'm fine."

William sighs. "Why did you go outside?"

Kurt says nothing for a few seconds. "Can I have a few words with you? Alone?" he asks William, and then he gives Dave an apologetic glance. "I appreciate your-"

Dave shrugs. "It's alright."

He knows when he's not wanted around, and honestly, he can't wait to leave this trailer, so he can step out from this whole strange situation. He untangles his hand from Kurt's, he didn't realize he was still holding it, and stands up.

"Tell the guys to go back to the camp," William tells him. "No one has to stay around."

"Alright," Dave replies. "Nice meeting you," he tells Kurt, even if this meeting was far from being nice.

"You too," Kurt says quietly.

When Dave walks outside, the whole circus crew is still there. They look at Dave expectantly, like they're waiting for him to say something incredibly important and Dave sighs tiredly.

"Kurt wants to talk with William in private. I'm going to my trailer, unless you need me for something," Dave informs them, even if he knows they need nothing. There's going to be another show tomorrow so they don't have to put down the tent right away. "William asked me to tell you to go back to the camp. He doesn't want anyone around."

Dave still doesn't know what that means, but they all seem to understand William's order and they start follow him towards the camp. They all still look like they can't wait for him to tell them something more, but Sam's the first breaking the silence.

"Was Kurt alright? When he woke up, was he fine?"

Dave rolls his eyes. "He's alive," he states, tiredly. "I don't know what you all want me to say. I don't know Kurt, I have no clue about how he usually is, so all I can say is that, he's weird, but maybe that's just me since so far, no one has even told me anything about this boy's existence."

Dave looks back, and they all look remorseful but he has quite a stressing time already so he doesn't feel sorry for being an ass.

"It's complicated, Dave," Mike tells him.

Dave snorts. "Tell me about it! If it's complicated for you, and you're aware about the whole deal, imagine how complicated I'm finding all this. I'm walking blind in here, and when I was in that trailer with him, I had not a damn clue about what to do."

"But-"

"No, Rachel," he cuts her off. "He woke up, yes. He was disoriented but apparently that's normal. And that he shakes or something, or that he starts panicking when people is around. I don't know; I get that I'm the new guy in here, but if anyone told me anything about this kid, maybe we could have avoided this whole_ complicated_ for my sake, for Kurt's and for all of you. And it didn't help much the fact that no one has told him about what I can do. That seemed to shock him quite a lot as well," Dave finishes.

He heads to his trailer, in order to find some peace. He notices that he's shaking, and he snorts at this realization. Dave wasn't aware how much tense he has gotten until now that the tension starts leaving his body.

When he arrives to his trailer, the first thing that Dave does is throwing himself back onto his bed. He's not going to waste his time speculating about the random things he got to learn about Kurt. Someone is supposed to give some explanations to him, and probably those explanations are something that Dave would never guess.

So Dave sighs deeply, and shuts his eyes. He woke up very early today, and maybe a little nap will help him to relax.

* * *

When Kurt is left alone with William, he doesn't know how to feel or what to say. At least he stepped out from the drowsy state that the Chloroform provided, but he still feels very anxious regarding the recent events. He can almost hear his heart beating hard and fast inside his chest.

William stares at him with his all time kind eyes. "We're alone now. I assume you have… some questions."

Kurt swallows hard, suddenly feeling slightly angry. "You didn't tell me that David could do that."

The older man leans back against the chair, letting out a loud sigh. "I didn't think it would be wise for you to know. At least not for now. I didn't know you know him already."

"Of course I know him," Kurt grits between his teeth. After all what they all have been through, has William forgotten about what Kurt does?

William scratches the back of his neck, looking remorseful. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I was trying to take care of you."

"_The show was great, Em. You should have seen it," William tells Emma on the phone of some local store._

"_I'm sure it was, Will. Everyone loves your show."_

"_Yeah, but this one… it went so good, and the crowd was so ecstatic-" _

Kurt's body jerks, at the sudden image that caught him out of guard.

_William walks down the crowded street, smiling and greeting some strange people as they walk by._

"Do you know when you're coming home? Or to Ohio?" Kurt blurts out, with several mixed visions in his head. They are there, all together before he can do something about it. "I miss you, Will."

"Kurt?"

He hardly hears William's voice. Yet, he hears Santana's laugh loud and clear.

"_Will, I love this town! It's almost like a big city! One that hasn't had been hit by the big depression and that's something odd to find. We have to come here more often! I've got the most gorgeous dress," Santana tells William in the middle of the streets._

_Sebastian joins them; Santana locks arms with him and they all start walking down the streets. "I couldn't get Mercedes and Tina out of the shoes store."_

_William laughs. "Not every day we get money to spoil ourselves a little, Seb. You have to be understanding."_

"But they have been there for the last half an hour!" Kurt complains out loud. "It took me just ten minutes to buy some new records. We had to add two more shows, Emma. We haven't done that since Aurora. Brittany is going to adore my new dress. And I bought something to her too! William, William! Look, Will, ice cream parlor! Will, look at my brand new shoes! I can't wait to see you too again, Will. Kids, we have to get-"

"Kurt! Come back, Kurt! Focus!"

Kurt blinks, and he's panting again. He opens his eyes and finds himself pressed back onto his mattress, and William almost on top of him, holding him tightly by his shoulders, shaking him. William's grip eases as he notices that Kurt is staring at him, and the older man sighs.

The images of the city streets, his friends crowding together around William, and William talking to the phone with Emma still pass before his eyes, but Kurt can see William as well.

The older man stands up, and grabs the empty glass that is now laying on the bed. Kurt sits straight up back in the mattress and he sees William filling his glass with water. Kurt does his best to stay focused, but it's hard to do it when he's so stressed.

There's so much silence… for a while, Kurt practically forgot that he has to keep his guard up constantly when he's with someone. The echo of William's future is still in his head, but Kurt suppresses it as much as he can.

"Here, have some water," William offers him the glass, and Kurt takes it, drinking the whole of it in one shot. "That was a big one. For a moment, I thought I lost you. I was about to slap you," he says, trying to be funny but Kurt feel terrible, so he can't join the joke.

"I'm sorry."

The older man sits down in the chair that he was previously occupying before Kurt's moment. "It's not your fault, so don't feel bad about it. And you don't have to be nervous. It's just me."

"It was too silent," Kurt tells him, exhausted but needing to explain what happened. It never happened something like this before. "When I was with him… I even tried to see something; to hear something. I couldn't understand that, he was there and at the same time, he wasn't in me. But then he told me what he could do, and I stopped trying. I was only awed at the silence and the nothing he provided. It's never so quiet unless I'm alone and far away from everyone else."

Kurt is suddenly experiencing a huge mix of feelings. He feels a little betrayed; he still doesn't understand why they kept the information about David's abilities from him. They haven't have done that when Jesse, Tina and Quinn joined them. Then there's the guilt; everyone has to walk in tiptoes around him because he's so damn fragile, and that leads him to the anger and frustration towards himself and the little control he has over his abilities. There's also the disconcert; to be around another human being and not be able to see anything, it's such a novelty that Kurt can't step out of his amazement. And finally, there's the longing of having… what he got from Dave's presence forever.

"You were afraid of the guys when they walked in," William breaks his train of thoughts. "Was just a habit, or you could see all of their futures in spite of David's presence?"

Kurt frowns, trying to remember what happened then. He's mentally and emotionally drained. "I couldn't see anything until now. I guess… I was very defensive. I've just had the future of hundreds of people in my head, it was so scary. When I saw them all here and-"

"It's alright."

"David…" he tries to remember how is that Dave had called it. "He... _cancel_ is what he said? He cancelled everyone? Not just me?"

William nods. "We call it 'cancel,' yes. Some others call his ability 'power negation.'"

"But they left, you were here and I couldn't see you until now."

"I guess David is far from us now."

Kurt frowns. "I'm sorry?"

"His ability works just like yours. You have visions of the people who are around you up to a certain distance, even if they are not right next to you. We measured David's ability in the same way we did with yours before deciding how far to park your trailer from the camp. David cancels the abilities of every person who stands within a two hundred and thirteen feet with three inches radius around him. Or seventy-two yards, quite powerful I must say."

Kurt nods, understanding this part. His visions works in the same way, but his radium is sadly of two hundred and sixty-two feet. William also calls it 'powerful'; to Kurt it's just a curse.

"How do you work if he cancels you all?" Kurt can't help getting curious.

William smils. "Like we do with you. His trailer is far from the camp. It's not hard since it's not like we're using our abilities constantly, but just in case, we always let everyone know when David is going to be around."

Kurt nods again. Dave is far, but obviously not close to Kurt's far away parked trailer either, otherwise, Kurt would have noticed it long ago.

"Why didn't you tell me what he could do?"

William fidgets in his place. "I… I guess, right now I think that we didn't handle that part very well. But we were trying to protect you."

Kurt snorts. "Protect me?" he inquires, unbelieving. Someone like Dave is nothing but a blessing to him. "How could he be any harm to me? With the ability he has?"

"We don't know him very well yet, Kurt," William tells him with a firm voice. "We all know how much it could mean to you, but he's been with us for only three days. I think he's adapting very well, but this is too overwhelming for him."

"How come?"

"Well, for starters, he has never seen a couple like Mercedes and Sam," William tells him almost laughing. "Thankfully, he's very comfortable with that, and with the girls. But imagine that that's something that it's not something usual for people to see, imagine how awkward must have been for him to find out that there are people like us, and that he's one of them."

Kurt raises a brow. "People with abilities?"

"Yes. Unlike most of you, he never even knew that there was something special with him. David has never been aware that he had any kind of ability. To most of you, not to say to all of you, you noticed the abilities you had and finding this circus meant to find people who were just like you. People you could relate to," William explains him quietly. "But David got to learn that, he has a gift and that people fly, or read minds, or breathe under water exist, all at once."

"Oh."

Kurt actually spent years thinking he was crazy until he met William and the rest of the circus. He even spent a whole year in a horrible asylum because of his visions, and he never knew that the visions he had were actually the future of all the people he had around until a lot later.

Finding out that he was not crazy was certainly a blessing, and finding that there were other people who could do things that were beyond what was explainable was also a blessing.

But Kurt still remembers how his life was when he was nothing but a normal kid, so he can imagine how it must feel to be a normal person, who's suddenly introduced to the world that he and his friends lived in.

"I don't think that David is going to feel this is too much for him to handle," William continues. "But we couldn't be sure of that, and it's still too soon to tell. I just considered that, introducing him to you, knowing what he could mean to you and then losing it, it could be bad for you."

"I guess you're right," Kurt can't help agreeing.

He spent with Dave not even half an hour, and he really got too used to the nothing that he could get from someone else's mind. Suddenly he couldn't see Dave's future, or Rachel's, Finn's, Mercedes' and even William's at first, when they were left alone.

Without even realizing of it, Kurt embraced that nothingness so hard that he even forgot that there were still people around him, and that there was something to be cautious about.

And William was just _one_ person. Yet, Kurt was in such an ease in spite of his anxiety, that he couldn't control the mix of flashes that he got just from _one person. _They were all inside his head, abruptly and Kurt couldn't help getting lost in them.

"The guys wanted you two to meet though," William tells him with a smile on his face. "They think that, if David is around, you could be with us as well. They crave for having you with us at least during lunch or dinner."

Kurt tilts his head to one side, not embracing the idea a lot. Just the sight of more than three people together scared the hell out of him, and while he adores all of his friends to death, he can't imagine how comfortable or not he's going to feel at being surrounded by all of his friends at the same time.

There's nothing that Kurt wants more than being part of the circus in a normal way and share with his friends all the things his friends usually share together. But Kurt can't forget about his own fears.

"Whenever you feel ready to do such a thing," William tells him, apparently being able to read the anxiety in Kurt's face.

"Thank you."

"I should go and check on David," William says, standing up. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I think I'm going to sleep for awhile," Kurt tells him, feeling pretty much exhausted. "Tell David I'm sorry. He didn't know about me, and… well, he's quite new in this special people world, so I guess I didn't cause the best impression."

Now he feels quite ashamed. Dave must think that Kurt is out of his mind, and with good reason. Jesus, Dave surely thinks that he's crazy or that he's a freak; Kurt hates people thinking he's crazy, but he wouldn't be able to blame Dave if he thought that way.

"I'm sure he doesn't mind, Kurt. Don't you worry," William says, squeezing his shoulder. "Sleep now. Alright? I'll send someone with the dinner later."

Kurt nods, laying back onto his mattress. "Bye, William."

William offers him one last smile, and leaves. In the solitude of his room, William's future fades before Kurt's eyes, as the older man walks away far from his trailer. Kurt's still in his circus clothing, and he hates himself for feeling too tired to take them off but he doesn't even feel like moving.

Overwhelmed, Kurt decides that sleeping is all what he's going to do now. Kurt would sleep forever if he could, because while sleeps, the future is gone; nothing upsets him, hurts him or worries him. In his dream land, he's in a safe place where there's anything that could harm him.

So after letting a deep sigh, Kurt closes his eyes and sleeps.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Dave wakes up, there's light coming through his window and for a second, he believes he just woke up after a little nap, until his eyes lay upon a tray with food that wasn't there before he went to sleep. He frowns and gets up from his bed, poking a cold soup inside a red pot. There's also a plate with a slice of green tomato pie and another one with roasted chicken. Everything is equally cold.

He lets out a loud yawn and scratches the back of his head, trying to fully wake up. Not really knowing what time is it, Dave opens the door of his trailer and steps outside. He shivers as a chilly breeze hits his face, and he notices that the camp seems to be completely deserted. He looks down, and he there's dew in the grass so he resolves that it's probably very early in the morning.

Dave can't believe he slept so much.

He gets back to his trailer, and stretches his arms. He's quite hungry, so he sits down at the table and he eats the cold food. Cold chicken and pie is alright, yet Dave doesn't touch the soup. That's something that won't taste good being cold.

After having his dinner-breakfast, Dave wanders around his trailer. There's not a lot to do since he can't head to the camp in order to find someone awake to spend some time with, unless someone comes to pick him up first.

Dave never noticed how boring it could get to be alone. Back in the gas station, he was constantly alone with the radio to keep him some company. Yet, right now, it seems like the time goes by incredibly slowly. He's been in the circus for a couple of days, and he got too used to be around people.

But after what seems to be forever, someone finally knocks at his door. Dave immediately stands up, and when he opens the door he finds William outside, carrying yet another tray with some toasts, butter, milk, boiled eggs and two mugs of coffee. Dave assumes that instead of being taken to have breakfast with the rest of the group, he's going to share breakfast with William.

"Morning, David," the older man greets him.

"Good morning. Want to come inside?"

William gets inside with Dave, and they both sit at the table. Dave pushes the half empty tray of yesterday's dinner to one side and William says: "We came yesterday to have a few words with you. You know, regarding what happened. We kept on finding you asleep."

Dave snorts. "I still can't believe I slept so much. I woke up just some time ago; I didn't know what to do to kill time."

"Oh, do you want to hear something really impressive?"

Dave stares at William, curious. "What thing?"

William smiles. "Your ability works just the same when you're asleep. Those are really hard to find, you know?"

Dave didn't know that, since he doesn't know much about abilities in general let alone his own. "Is it that bad?" he inquires, unsure.

"At all. It just proves you have a very powerful gift. Most abilities depend on our will so most of them shut down while we sleep since we're not conscious. But when the girls came up last night to wake up to have dinner, they did see you were very much asleep and they still couldn't do anything put their abilities in use."

Dave thinks that's bad news. Supposedly, he's meant to learn how to focus and do all the stuff that Rachel said it's necessary to control his ability. But he won't be able to focus anything if he's asleep.

"So even if I learn to control it, I'll still have to sleep away from everyone else."

William nods, apologetically. "About that, I was thinking you should have here one of our record players and some music."

Dave quirks an eyebrow, grabbing one of the mugs of coffee. "Are you trying to make it up to me because of what happened yesterday?"

The older man lets out a small laugh. "I get your point, but no. Yesterday, while I was with Kurt and I saw his phonograph, I realized you should have one too. If there's something you two have in common is that you get to spend a lot of time by your own. Music helps a lot. I'll get some music for you today."

_Kurt._

Dave doesn't even know where to start asking questions. Finally he gets a free pass to all explanations, and there are so many things that he's completely clueless about that he can't even figure out what to ask first.

Still, Dave likes the idea of having his own music. "That would be nice. Thank you."

They both start drinking their respective coffees, not really saying anything and Dave can tell that William's finding hard to start this conversation as well.

"So, David. Yesterday I promised I would explain to you anything you wanted to know," finally William speaks up. "What would you like to know?"

That's pretty much a hard question, or at least, Dave thinks so since there are so many things he wants to know that he finds difficult to pick one question. He presses his lips together, trying to come up with something.

He shrugs. "What's the deal with Kurt? Why everyone is so secretive about him? Ever since I joined this place, all I've got was everyone talking in riddles while they spoke about him in my presence."

William nods. "First of all, I want to tell you that no one has ever distrusted you," he says firmly, and Dave gives him a skeptical glare. "No, I mean it. We're all just… very protective of him."

That doesn't make Dave feel any less upset. "So you thought I could hurt him?"

Much to Dave's surprise, William lets out a short laugh and Dave doesn't get what's so funny. Apparently, William notices this. "I'm sorry. It's just… Kurt asked the same when I told him why we didn't tell him about you."

There, Dave has another question. "Why didn't you tell him about me? I thought-"

"One at the time, Dave," William cuts him off with his always kind tone of voice. "Everything is related anyway."

"Alright."

"As I said, we're all very protective of each other. I can assure you that if someone wanted to harm you, all of my kids would jump in your defense, even if you've been here for just a few days," William tells him firmly and for some reason, Dave's chest grows warm at these words. "The thing with Kurt is that he's… more _vulnerable,_ than the rest of us."

Dave understands that part pretty quickly. When he met Kurt yesterday, he noticed right away that there was something weird about him; he was far from normal, even if they're all circus people with strange abilities. He doesn't consider Kurt as someone vulnerable though; he does consider him a bit crazy.

So he asks: "How so?"

"Do you know what Kurt's ability is?"

"He told me he sees the future," he replies. "People's future."

"Good. Now, Kurt doesn't have a lot of control on his visions of the future. Take yourself for example: you can't decide yet, who to cancel or not. You just cancel everyone you have around," William explains. "Kurt is the same. If there are ten people around him, he's going to see those ten different futures all together. And just like you, his gift works up to certain distance. That's why we keep his trailer far from the camp."

Little by little, Dave starts understanding everything better. "So that way he won't see all of your futures, just like I won't cancel you all if I'm close to you."

William smiles at him. "Exactly."

"But Rachel said all abilities can be mastered," Dave recalls, and suddenly feels a little worried about this. If Kurt can't control what he does, then there's a big chance that Dave won't be able to control his own ability, complicating everyone's lives.

"It doesn't mean you won't be able to train yourself, Dave," William tells him as if he was reading his thoughts.

"Kurt can't control his ability. So it's not like _all _abilities can be trained, like Rachel assured."

William shakes his head, looking slightly sad. "It's different."

"It sounds the same to me."

"David, there are abilities that are just there, like Mercedes'; if she gets under water she'll instantly breath normally. Quinn doesn't have to think about walking through a wall; if she walks towards a wall, she'll walk through it. Then there are abilities that require certain control, like yours, Rachel's, Finn's or _Kurt's_. You all need to have some power on them, so you can decide when to use them or not."

"See? We're in the same-"

"Let me finish. Yes, the kind of ability you two have require the same control; concentration, attention, a lot of effort sometimes, you need to be focused and…" William trails off.

Dave raises a brow, leaning a bit forwards. "And?"

"And you can do that, Dave. Kurt can't."

Dave doesn't get it so he frowns. "If he can't, then maybe I can't do it either."

William sighs. "Abilities like Kurt's need a lot of _mental stability_. If you're relaxed, in peace, you can start focusing in his case, in the visions he gets, or in your case, in the people you'll cancel. That's at first, once you start training yourself, you do it naturally, like Rachel does."

Dave narrows his eyes at William. "And Kurt is mentally unstable?"

William winces. "He's not crazy," he states right away. "Kurt had a very complicated life because of his visions, so he gets easily distressed. You've seen him yesterday when he saw the guys getting inside his trailer."

Dave nods, recalling that moment. He still doesn't know what happened, but he even got a little scared as well while seeing how much in panic Kurt seemed to be.

"He looked terrified," Dave points out. "Why does he get so scared?"

William shrugs, like it's something simple. "Because he loses control. He can't handle people's future, and… he gets lost in it."

Dave frowns. "In the future?"

William shrugs again. "Sometimes it's all he sees. He stops being aware of the world around him; the future turns to be his present. But that happens when he's close to several people for a certain time, since all futures get mixed up in his head, and he can't come back to reality. Sadly, he had a lot of troubles in the past because of his powerful gift, so I can't blame him for being… sensitive now. We take a lot of care not to let him go through anything that could hurt him."

Dave blinks, for some reason he starts feeling terribly bad for Kurt. All the guys have really great abilities, and Dave thought he was the only one stuck with a bad one. Now Kurt… he's stuck with a real bad one. The only thing that Dave has to do is staying away from everyone in certain moments, but Kurt… Jesus! Dave always thought that it would be great to be able to see the future. Now he's not so sure about that.

"That's terrible."

"It is. Kurt gets easily distressed and you can't concentrate very much when you're so anxious, right? Yet, when Kurt first joined us, believe me, he was a mess," William tells him and Dave gets even more curious but he lets the other man speak. "He did a lot of improvements. Back then, he could hardly follow a conversation since his visions were always there, distracting him. Now he can be in company of up to three people, and considering how bad he was before, that's a lot."

Dave starts feeling hopeful again. "So I can work on this thing I do. If Kurt did it being so…"

William nods. "Exactly. I think that if Kurt was in a better shape, he could master it. But in his case, the progress is very slow. Now, you're not him and I believe you'll be able to control your gift eventually."

"But I don't get it. I can cancel him," Dave says, thinking about the whole situation. "I can make all his visions to go away. Shouldn't I be something good for him? Instead, you were all secretive about him like, I don't know… It was like I'm something bad."

The older man sighs, drinking his coffee. "I think we all handled that pretty badly. Kurt was upset as well, since we didn't tell you what you could do."

For some reason, that makes Dave feel not so alone. At least Kurt was upset about the whole secret thing as well.

"We never thought you could hurt him," William continues. "We just… Kurt has been struggling with his visions for years. We did believe that having you here was going to be a great thing for him, we still do. But you're new in here, David. This whole new world could be overwhelming, and…"

"You thought I would take off?" Dave inquires, slightly seeing where William wants to get.

"Maybe. Until a few days ago, you were just an average person. And you don't only have to cope with things you've never seen before, like interracial couples, or open homosexuality; you're also with people with abilities that go far from comprehension, and you're one of those people as well," William tells him. "I wouldn't blame you if you ever feel that this is too much for you to handle. So being all this so new to you, I didn't want to introduce to you to Kurt yet. I have to take care of my kids, all of them and there's nothing that Kurt could want more than some peace in his mind; it would mean everything to him. I just didn't want to take the risk of introducing you to him, and then take that peace away if you left shortly after that."

Dave feels a little insulted, but he can't blame William for believing he could just walk away. He has to accept that he's handling this whole new world quite well; he suddenly pictures Mr. Cameron, and how it would be for him if he was introduced to all the things that now Dave sees daily. The old man would have probably have a fit.

"I'm not-"

"I also have to take care of you, David," William continues. "Because no matter how much we want to have you here, we can't force you to stay with us. You're the only person that can give Kurt some rest from the future; he wants that and we all want him to have that. I wouldn't want you to feel pressured; I wouldn't want you thinking that you have to stay because we hope that you'll help Kurt somehow. I want you to stay with us because you want to, and not because you feel obligated to."

Dave swallows hard and says nothing. William's words make him feel warm in a strange way; he's been part of the circus just for a few days, and it's not just William; all of his friends make him feel very welcomed and cared about. And they don't really know him, but they still look after him.

Dave has been taking care of himself for the most part of his life. He still can't get used to the fact that there are people that seem to have his back now, but it's alright because it feels nice to remind himself that he's not alone anymore.

"I don't know if this helps much, but I can assure you that I'm not leaving," Dave tells William, being completely honest with him. "This is by far the best place I've been at in my life."

He really means it. Not only he has a roof, a bed and a door, all at the same time; it goes beyond the accommodations and the food he gets daily. In the few days he's been part of the circus, he truly enjoys the company of these great people he had the fortune to meet.

He'd have to be crazy to leave a place where he feels so accepted and where he can be part of something so incredible.

"I'm glad to hear that. We like having you with us as well," William replies with a tender smile on his face.

Still, Dave has some more questions so this is not the end of their conversation.

"What's the big deal about Kurt being outside? Not meeting other people? Yesterday, you all repeated over and over that it was impossible for him to be outside, even if he was very much there."

William chuckles. "About that, yes. It's not like he _can't_ be outside. We're not going to forbid him to do anything he wants to do. But he actually fears the outside, because of people, yes. I can't even remember when was the last time he's been at the camp, since he can't handle our company."

"But he went outside," Dave tries to recall what Kurt said. "Something about Rachel?"

The older man laughs, rolling his eyes. "Yes. Something about her. She stole a corset that belonged to Quinn, and it was not finished yet. Kurt wanted to prevent her from having public embarrassment. In fact, the guys said that Rachel was coming out with Finn, Noah and Mercedes when they noticed that you were around, but she ended up topless since the corset fell apart. It was embarrassing for her, I guess, but she was lucky. At least it happened in front of some of her friends and not in front of the sold out audience."

Dave laughs out loud and William joined him. Who would have guessed that Rachel was so sneaky?

"I guess that happens when you take stuff that didn't belong to you."

"Tell me about it. She's been crying all night, blaming herself for what happened," William tells him and Dave can imagine that.

All this does explain a lot to Dave. He's still curious about a lot of stuff, but he thinks it would be wise not to be so nosy yet. He knows what he needs to know and that's enough for him, at least for now.

Yet, he can't help asking. "Is Kurt alright? I mean, now, after what happened yesterday."

"He is, and I appreciate your concern. He's resting right now; Brittany's going to wake him up to have breakfast with him in a little while."

Dave notices that Kurt rests a lot. It doesn't sound too suspicious now, knowing all the things the kid has to deal with when he's with people. And it's impossible for him not being concerned. Maybe he's the new guy, and he doesn't know Kurt as much as the rest of the guys, but the boy seems to have quite a hard time and Dave finds hard not to feel sorry for him.

It's easier to understand now why everyone is so overprotective with Kurt. Dave has seen him just once, and he just got to know a bit more about him and for some reason, he's feeling caring about him as well.

"Good," Dave simply replies.

"So, anything else?"

For days, Dave has been wondering a lot about Kurt and now, he can't even remember all the billions of questions he had about the kid. So Dave takes a few seconds to check with himself if his curiosity is gone.

And he's about to shake his head no, since he has no more questions until a very vivid image of Kurt passing out in front of the circus tent hits his brain.

"He fainted," Dave points out, trying to remember better the whole scene. "But, he did something. He just didn't faint he-"

"About that," William cuts him off. A glimpse of discomfort shows in his eyes. "He didn't just faint, you're right. He did that to himself."

"He did that to himself? Fainting?"

William nods. "Do you know what chloroform is?" Dave shakes his head no. "It's an anesthetic. A liquid that doctors use to sleep their patients when they need surgery."

Dave narrows his eyes, because a part of him can see where William is trying to get, but he doesn't want to jump into conclusions. "So…"

"When you inhale it, you lose conscience quickly."

"You let him do that? Isn't it dangerous?"

He can see in William's face that this chloroform thing doesn't make the older man happy in the slightest. Surely there's a reason for this, but Dave doesn't want to push it.

"It is dangerous. It's toxic and inhaling too much of it could even kill someone, but we know, and what's more important, Kurt knows how much he's permitted to use."

Dave blinks. Is this man out of his mind? From what Dave could gather the previous day, Kurt is a very disturbed kid. Sure, William assures that Kurt is not crazy, and maybe, yesterday's events don't happen often, so the boy was more upset than he usually is… but Dave wouldn't leave that kid, who's obviously unstable, with anything that could harm him.

But it's not Dave's call. He won't know what's best or worst for this kid. William and the rest of the guys have been dealing with Kurt's forced craziness for longer than him.

Apparently, William reads Dave's wary expression because he continues. "Sadly, Kurt's forced to take drugs. The chloroform is just for his sever crises, since the effect is immediate. But he has to take drugs; pills to induce his sleep."

Dave nods, remembering the small chat he eavesdropped between Brittany and Santana the day they arrived to Aurora. Knowing more about this whole thing, Dave understands that Kurt has to be asleep. If the boy's trailer is so far away from the camp like Dave's, must be because he could see everyone's futures if they got nearer that distance. And people in town, did gather around them to welcome them.

He still doesn't like that. He can't explain why, but he's not sure if the tactics they use to keep Kurt's safe are that good. At the same time, it's not like they have lots of options.

"And those pills are good?"

William doesn't reply instantly, so Dave takes that as a 'no.' "It's the best we have right now. He only takes them when we're on the road, just in case."

Dave doesn't ask for further. There's something about this that obviously bothers William, and William has been nothing but kind and open about everything so Dave won't put the man in any more distress.

"Alright."

"Want to join me to the camp? Everything is alright over there, but I just thought we should have a few words in private."

Dave nods, standing up and picking up the trays. On their way, William informs him that some of the _kids_ -Dave still doesn't know why William calls them all kids since they are all in their early twenties- are going to promenade in the town before the show. They did the same the day they arrived to Aurora, but Dave stayed in the camp. This time, he decides to join them.

He catches some of the guys, already dressed up and ready to go sightseeing and Dave can't help getting surprised. They are all dressed in very nice clothes; no one would guess that they're part of a travelling circus. Santana, Rachel and Quinn are wearing very fine dresses, gloves and hats, and even their shoes are _polished._ Dave remembers the time he met Rachel at the station; he thought she could be a girl from the city. Now all of them look like they are from some big city. Sam and Sebastian are also wearing fine trousers and clean shirts, along with vests. Dave looks down at himself, and… lord, his trousers are way too old and worn out and he's still wearing yesterday's shirt; a shirt that stopped being white some years ago and now it's beige. While standing next to his friends side, Dave believes he looks like a beggar.

"Can you give me some time to take a shower at least?"

"Man, hurry up. Finn was heading to the showers," Sam tells him, and Dave nods quickly.

He hurries back to his trailer to pick some decent clothes -or something, his clothes are not in their best shape- and runs towards the showers. He has showered already at the baseball pitch so knowing where it is, he speeds up and he ends up running into a very sleepy Finn who's crossing the streets, wearing some clean clothes and a towel in his hands.

"Hey, man," Finn greets him sleepily. "I don't know why they have to go sightseeing so early."

Dave shrugs. "I had to hurry up. William told me you were going to promenade in town, but I didn't think it was going to be _now_."

They go in different directions when they reach the stalls, but they keep on talking about yesterday's show. It seems that in spite of the little inconvenient with Kurt, everything went smoothly.

It relaxes Dave to see while they are getting dressed that Finn has more normal clothes like him. It's not like Dave looks like the homeless he used to be, but it's been –probably- years since the last time he bought new clothes.

After dropping their belongings in the camp, the guys start walking towards downtown since they are not far from the stores and else. Dave smiles when Santana surprises him by locking her arm with his.

"So how are you doing, Karofsky?" She inquires, casually.

If Dave has to choose between women and men, he'd probably choose men. Still, he's been with women plenty of times, and he can appreciate the beauty in them, even if they are not Dave's first choice. Dave likes women, but he doesn't really like them in his bed.

Santana really looks gorgeous though. She's wearing make up, her lips are bright red, and she's wearing a dark blue dress with small white dots. The dress ends right below her knees, revealing part of her long legs. There's also white bow above her chest that matches her white gloves.

"You look pretty," Dave blurts out, not really answering her question.

Santana snorts. "I know, but thanks for pointing it out. I like better my outfits for the show. I'm not a tramp, but our performances are a great excuse to show more skin without scandalizing people."

Dave laughs out loud. You never get to meet women with attitude, who would proudly admit their desire to be able to show more skin. Women nowadays are usually more submissive, quiet and prudish.

"I can't remember your outfit, sorry. Yesterday I saw you all together. All I remember is William's top hat."

Santana nods, with a smile pressed on her lips. "So you didn't answer my question. How are you doing? Ready to run to the hills?"

Dave chuckles and wonders if they have had several new members who decided to take off after joining the circus. "I don't know why you think that way. I get to see all crazy and fun things here, you don't treat black people like servants, homosexuality is allowed and that guy can fly," he points at Sam, who's walking few feet ahead since Dave and Santana fell a little behind from the rest.

Santana glares at him, as if she was trying not to laugh. Dave bets she's not the kind of girl who smiles politely at everything. "I don't think you'll want to take Sam's girlfriend, so I rule out the possibility of you being happy for our acceptance with black people. Now, homosexuality-"

"What about the guys who can fly?" Dave tries to avoid the subject. He realizes that so far, he never told anyone much about himself.

He's usually quite reserved, mostly because he never got the time to bond with anyone, since he was constantly changing jobs, moving from town to town…

The brunette girl rolls her eyes at him. "Abilities don't count for you, considering you didn't know they existed, let alone that you had one as well," she states, almost annoyed. "But tell me, you like men?"

Santana is staring at him with eyes that seem almost teasing him, and Dave can't believe that he's talking about this, out loud with someone. And the weirdest thing is that he doesn't particularly mind, even if he has lived all his life being secretive about his not so occasional attraction towards men. This is also something that men don't usually talk with women but right now, Dave doesn't mind to have this conversation with Santana.

In addition, Santana is in a relationship with another girl and they all are part of a very small group of people who accepts homosexuality. Dave doesn't consider himself a queer, at least not fully, since he has slept with women plenty of times. Yet, deep inside he knows he should start considering himself as a queer, because no matter how many women he has slept with, he always preferred to be with men.

And maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to tell Santana. It's not like he's going to get beaten for saying out loud that, from time to time, he likes men. Or most of the times, not to say all of them.

So Dave nods. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

Dave shrugs. "Men are not always available, and when they are, they are not always my type," he admits quietly since even if he's comfortable enough to tell this to Santana, he doesn't want to have a meeting with everyone to discuss his sexual orientation.

"I see," Santana replies, in an equal low voice. Obviously she's getting that he wants to keep this between them. "I get you though. It used to happen the same to me. I like guys enough, and you're not bad yourself."

Lord, this girl is really straight forwards. "Thanks," Dave says, amused.

"But I like girls. And I love Brittany," she says, and Dave can almost see her blushing. Apparently, Santana's is also not the kind of girl who likes to admit her feelings either. Dave can relate to that.

"That's good. I guess she's lucky to have you."

Santana looks up at him, pressing a soft smile. "Thanks. But back to you, big boy. Seen someone you like? We're a group of young people, and we're quite attractive as well, so I'm sure you've seen something you liked."

That's indeed true; Dave has to admit that they were all quite good looking, and being young it's a plus. The girls are indeed pretty, the guys are quite handsome and Dave has found someone he likes but it's not like he's going to try to do anything about it.

In fact, he prefers to stay away from complications, even more now that he's aware about all the complications that Kurt implies.

But he takes a few long seconds to reply and nothing came out from his mouth but an awkward. "Er…"

"I knew it," Santana mutters achieved. Dave wants to kick himself. "Is it a guy or a girl? The sometimes I like men doesn't apply right here, does it?"

"Hum…"

"A guy," the girl whispers, sounding suddenly very interested. Dave's really being very sloppy in here. "Sebastian is not a 'sometimes' guy, he's all queer as they come. Is it him?"

Lord, the mess he's got himself into. "No, he's not," he replies, because even if he's aware that Sebastian is really attractive, Dave is not attracted to him.

Santana chuckles. "Well, that's fine. I don't think he would have gone after you. He's still hung up for his dumb ex," she says, remorsefully. "But then all the other guys are into girls, so wrong luck I guess."

Dave shrugs since it's not a big deal. He wasn't going to try anything with anyone anyways. "It's fine. I'm-"

"Except Kurt," she cuts him off, and she seems to be talking more to herself than to him. "I bet that if he could, he would be a queer as well," Dave can't help it, and he quickly looks at Santana showing an obvious interest. "Oh, Lord. It's him?"

Dave swallows hard, and shakes his head quickly. "Of course not," he hurries to reply, but Santana's giving him an inquisitive look.

"Be careful with that one, boy," she tells him, with a threatening tone of voice.

Dave sighs, resolving that it's better to come out clean, at least with her. The last thing Dave wants is people distrusting him for wanting to play with the fragile boy from the circus. He wouldn't do that, even if he finds the boy incredibly gorgeous.

He stops in his place, forcing Santana to stop walking as well. "Look, yes, I did find him attractive and if we were at some dark or secret club, I'd definitely go after him," he states, seriously, staring at her right into her eyes. "But I'm aware about who he is, and I'm not going to play around with him. And if he wasn't so messed up, I probably wouldn't do it anyways. As I said, this is not some secret club; we all live here, together; this is almost like a family. I'm going to have to see you, him and everyone every day. I wouldn't compromise everything just because a random nightstand."

And he really means it. Thankfully, Santana nods quietly; she believes him. The girl locks her arm with Dave's again, and they resume their walk.

"I'm glad you take so serious our life in the circus," Santana tells him. "Couples among us don't usually compromise our lives. I'm perfect with Britt, Sam and Mercedes hardly ever give us trouble, and Mike and Tina are one of those couples people call 'a match made in heaven,'" she says, not very amused. "Playing around it's something different though, so we're careful about not doing that. It would be awkward if I slept with Mike, and then Finn, and then Sebastian… well, not Sebastian, obviously. But some others do like to turn our living lives in hell due their romantic issues," she says, bitterly.

Dave frowns. "What do you mean?"

Santana rolls her eyes, and points at Rachel and Finn. Dave gapes. He didn't see that coming. "What?"

"Quiet!" Santana grits between her teeth. "We're all sick tired of those two. They've been breaking up and getting together since they've met. Sadly, we're the ones who have to deal with their drama. We stopped taking them seriously long ago."

Dave stares at Rachel and Finn, who are walking ahead from them, with their arms locked together as well, and honestly, he can't believe they are… well, something.

"I didn't think they were something else than friends," Dave admits.

"That's because they are in their break," Santana informs him flatly. "But don't you worry. You'll see them together by next weekend. And breaking up in the following one."

Dave laughs, not being able to believe it. Is he blind or something? Maybe he wasn't paying much attention and that wouldn't be surprising, since Dave is not the kind of guy who spends time thinking about other people's love life.

"As for Kurt…"

"Santana, drop it," Dave warns her. "I don't want anything with him."

"It's a shame you know?"

Dave sighs; will she ever forget about this?

"It's not like I want to marry him. I don't even know him; I just find him…"

"Arousing?"

"Attractive. It's not a big deal," he states, but then he grows curious, remembering what Santana said earlier. "What do mean that, he would be a queer if he could? Not that I'm interested, I just didn't get you."

Santana shrugs. "Well, it's just a though. He has that vibe, you know? He seems to be the kind of boy that likes guys," she explains quietly, as they cross the street. They're getting closer to downtown. "But we couldn't know. Maybe he doesn't even know what he likes. He's been seeing people's future since he's fourteen, and his life has been a mess ever since. I don't think he ever had the time to even have a crush on someone, being his head so full of future crap all the time."

Dave hasn't considered that, and that's alright since he just got to find out how Kurt's life is not even an hour ago. But Jesus, poor kid. The boy's got to have the loneliest life ever. Yet, that's a new reason to stay away from Kurt. Everything would be even more complicated. Still, Santana's making a big deal about something that Dave didn't make a big deal. The boy is attractive; very attractive. Period.

"I didn't think about that."

Santana sighs. "Sad, I know."

"Hey, guys! Why so distant?" Finn inquires, turning around and motioning to move closer to them. They start walking faster to catch up with their friends.

"I'm talking to Karofsky," Santana states, sounding irritated. "Maybe, we don't want our conversation to reach your ears."

Dave rolls his eyes. Is she always this difficult? He notices that they are standing in the main avenue of Aurora. He's got so caught into his conversation with Santana that he hardly paid any attention to where they were going or where they were getting.

"So, we are here," Rachel says, clapping her hands together. "Were do we all want to go?"

"Music store," Sam replies right away. "Noah and I need some guitar strings. And I need to find a watchmaker."

"We also have to find a post office to deliver some letters," Quinn intercedes.

"Why don't we go to have breakfast?" Sebastian suggests. "We don't even know if there's a music store, or a watchmaker in this town. We could ask for directions."

Dave already had breakfast, and a little of yesterday's dinner but everyone agrees, so he says nothing and follows his friends.

They end up at a dinner that's just a few couple of blocks from where they were. In spite of their regular clothing, everyone in there seems to recognize them as soon as they walk in and they get plenty of smiles. Some people approach them to tell them that they really enjoyed yesterday's show, and some others let them know they're going to attend to today's show.

The seven of them thank everyone, showing polite smiles; even Santana.

When they order their breakfast, Dave feel uncomfortable yet again, since he realizes he has no money to pay for anything. Yet, everyone is busy staring at their menus to notice and it's not until they start sharing their choices for breakfast that Dave can admit about his little inconvenience.

"I don't have any money," Dave blurts out, when they ask him what he's going to order.

"None of us have," Sam tells him, casually and Dave stares at him, puzzled.

Rachel chuckles. "We do have money. It's not like we're going to eat for free," she explains. "What Sam means, is that usually we don't have money, like for ourselves. Yet, when we go sightseeing, William always gives us as much money as he can so we can at least eat out."

"Unless we're doing well with the shows," Sebastian intercedes. "Usually we first separate the money for the gas, and the food for the trips. What's left we use it like this. But when we're doing several shows, after separating the money for all the circus' stuff, we split the rest and we all get some money for ourselves. Not today's case though."

Dave thinks that's quite a good deal. Yet, he has a bed, a roof and food every day so Dave can't really ask for more; he doesn't think he needs money for anything else. Still, everyone expects him to have breakfast now, even if he tells them repeatedly that he had breakfast already. Apparently, they think it's just an excuse not to order something because of the money he doesn't have to pay for his food.

His new friends don't five up, so Dave ends up ordering some sliced oranges, prepared cereal, fluffy omelet, toast, marmalade, coffee and milk; he's having what Finn will have.

During breakfast, Dave is asked about the previous' day events and whether William talked to him about Kurt or not. Once again, his new friends look slightly guilty about the whole thing, and Dave discovers that talking about Kurt makes him feel sort of uncomfortable.

There are some aspects about Kurt that Dave's still curious about, but unlike before, he's not very willing to find more about him. Everything about Kurt seems to be complicated, dark and even sad. Dave doesn't want to be heartless, but he just found a place where he feels content, and who knew? He might get even happy; really happy. But so far, he's comfortable; Dave's surrounded by really good people he enjoys to spend time with, he travels around, and things, for the first time in a long time, life's good.

He wants to keep this for as long as he can. Until yesterday, it seemed vital for him to find out about Kurt. Now that Dave knows a bit more about the boy, he prefers to stay away from all that matter. After all, Dave can easily continue his life in the circus without being too attached to the whole deal with Kurt.

"He did. He explained to me everything or so I think," Dave says, trying to keep it short and simple. "I'm fine with it."

"I'm sorry we had to keep this from you," Quinn hurries to say. "We didn't want you-"

"It's alright," Dave assures her. "I understand now why you did it."

Thankfully, the topic of conversation ends right there.

Breakfast goes on smoothly. Dave has eaten already, but much to his surprise, he has no issues to swallow that entire breakfast. Suddenly, he remembers one night he ate at a shelter, that a fellow homeless told him: "Eat as much as you can. We are like stray dogs; we never know when we'll get to eat again, so never pass any chance to feed yourself."

That happened almost two years ago, when Dave told this man that he was full and almost rejected a third refill of his soup. Those words have never had much significance in the past, since Dave used to skip meals quite often. But by being part of this travelling circus, Dave has the chance to eat four times a day and it's the very first time in years that he even gets to feed himself quite well between meals.

Apparently, that old man's words really got Dave.

Dave still finds a bit hard to join the conversations that his friends start, even if they mostly talk about their every day life; things like everyone being happy at the people of Aurora that kept on cooking for them so they wouldn't have to cook, Finn doing the dishes poorly and leaving them always with grease –Finn looks away in that particular moment- when they are going to be able to do the laundry, and other things related to their life together, that even if Dave is part of this now, it still feels a little rude to intercede, even if he actually agrees and Finn does the dishes like hell.

When they are done with breakfast, the waitress tells them that the boss said that their meals are on the house. Yet, everyone refuses to eat for free. After a little playful quarrel, Rachel gets to hand the money of their breakfast to the waitress.

Dave believes that's quite noble. He's aware that the circus doesn't always have much money, and still they won't take stuff for free.

They do ask for directions, and the waitress happily provides them with. Sadly, they won't find a watchmaker, but the music store is only three blocks away, and the post office is closed since it's Sunday.

"Oh, right," Rachel tells the waitress, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Since we're constantly travelling around, we tend to forget what day is today."

The seven of them march towards the music store. Citizens keep on recognizing them on the streets and politely greet them. Dave believes he's never been part of anything so great; strangers usually are never this friendly with him. A little girl who walks hand to hand with her mom, even recognizes Quinn as they are entering to the music store and confronts Quinn, telling her that when she grows up, she wants to trapeze artist like her.

"Aw, thank you, sweetheart," Quinn tells the little girl, with a bright smile on her face.

Dave has never seen anything as adorable.

They buy several sets of guitar strings before heading back to the camp.

During the afternoon, Dave doesn't do much. His mates dress up before the show in the back of the circus tent, so once again, Dave doesn't get to see them in their circus outfits. He stays in the camp during the show, listening to some music and every now and then, his gaze lies upon Kurt's trailer. Dave doesn't see any movement coming from there.

For a little while, Dave wonders when they are going to invite Kurt to join them for lunch, or dinner or something. Dave will surely have to be there.

He shrugs. It will happen when it happens.

He starts finding harder to spend time by his own. Back in the gas station, he didn't have another choice but staying all by himself between customer and customer; Dave could spend days without seeing another human's face. And now, it's not like he has a choice either; he needs to stay away from the guys at certain moments, being the shows one of those moments.

And in the station, he did fine being alone. Now it seems harder. Maybe it's because unlike in his old job, this time he actually gets to be surrounded by a lot of people, and Dave is starting to like that.

You don't get to miss what you never got, and now that Dave gets to be in the middle of a bunch of people, Dave doesn't do so well at being all by himself.

After the show, the whole circus crew returns in their working clothes and smelling like hell. Dave has no qualms at pointing at this out loud.

"You smell terrible," he tells to Noah, who burst out into laughing.

"Well, there's no point at getting a shower after the show since we're putting down the tent. We're going to get sweaty all over again," Noah explains. "You coming? Lots of people stayed around to help us, so it won't take long."

Dave smirks. "Absolutely."

The whole circus crew, plus at least fifty male citizens of Aurora put down the tent in an hour and a half. Though they're leaving tomorrow morning, a lot of people approaches them say 'goodbye' and to thank them for their incredible shows.

Dave starts wishing he could witness at last one show, to see what people talk about. He has no doubts that the show must be something great, but still, every time someone points out how amazing the show is, Dave craves for the chance to see it.

On top of everything, a bunch of housewives come to meet them when they have the whole tent packed in the trailer, carrying pots and more pots with homemade food.

Dave hasn't been in the road for a long time, but he believes his circus mates hates cooking, because they never seemed so thankful like when people offers them for food. Each one of the ladies is carrying at least one pot with warm and fresh food, or pies or tarts and the smiles on his friend's faces never looked so wide.

"This is so sweet from you all," Tina tells the ladies.

Mercedes passes by Dave, carrying one of the pots with food and nudges him. "With all this food, we won't have to cook like for two days, at least," she mutters to him, excited and Dave laughs.

"It's a very nice gesture, we really appreciate it," Rachel adds. "And you didn't even have to do this for us."

"Oh, it's nothing," one of the ladies reply. "It's the least we could do for you all."

It's not like they offered the show for free, Dave considers. People had to pay for the ticket, so there's actually nothing to repay like to have these ladies feeling in debt with them. So Dave figures that they're just very considerate people.

"Shows like this one only happen in big cities," another lady tells them. "Aurora is such a small town; everyone seems to forget that we exist. So we're grateful that you considered our town to stop by."

"We always go pick small towns," Sebastian tells them kindly. "Precisely because of that."

All the ladies smile at him.

After saying goodbye to everyone, they all head first to the camp in order to drop the food, and then they all hit the showers. The girls go first, and while Dave is waiting with the guys for the girls to leave the showers, Dave asks Mike.

"Are people always so nice?"

Mike shrugs. "Small towns have that benefit, I guess. You always have to go to some big city in order to have some big entertainment, so yes, usually everyone is very nice to us."

Dave nods. "Why don't you do shows in big cities? Wouldn't be that, more money? I mean, there are more people."

Mike shifts in his place, and when Dave looks up, he can see all the guys looking suspicious. Dave rolls his eyes to himself; once again, he's in front of what it seems to be a big secret. He's getting tired of them, but at the same time, Dave was upset due Kurt's secret and they had reasons to keep it from him. He decides he's not even going to ask about this or let himself wonder about this.

"Among other things, yes," Noah replies in Mike's behalf. Dave's not going to ask what 'the other things' are. "But it also a… business tactic, you know? In big cities, you have a lot to compete with: theater, concerts, movies, sports, but in small cities, they don't get many options. And the deader the town is, the better we do. No one will miss the chance to see a travelling circus's show, considering that nothing ever happens in towns like this one."

That's a much better explanation. Still, Dave knows there's something they're not telling him, but Dave decides that he doesn't really need or want to know.

After showering, they have dinner all together, except for Finn who left the group to share dinner with Kurt. This time, they don't look wary at mentioning Kurt's name in front of Dave and he thinks that's a progress.

Even if no one has told him about their arrangements regarding Kurt, it's not too hard to figure out that at the impossibility of Kurt of being around people, someone always shares meals with him. Dave recalls that Kurt can handle the company up to three people, but asides from yesterday, Dave has never seen more than one person going to Kurt's trailer.

Not like Dave minds.

They all share dinner in a good mood, provided by the delicious food they've been gifted with.

It's Santana, Brittany and Mike's turn to do the dishes, so Dave's about to head to his trailer, when Artie calls him out. Dave walks towards him, noticing for the first time a wooden plank coming out from his trailer's door, as an improvised ramp for Artie.

"Hey, Arts," Dave greets him, even if they just saw each other during dinner and pulls the wheelchair over the ramp, helping his friend to his get into trailer.

"Want to hang out? I have something you might like," Artie says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Dave frowns, and sees Artie taking a bucket of water out from under a counter. Dave laughs when he notices that inside the bucket of water, there's a bunch of bottles of beer.

"Where did you get those?"

Artie shrugs. "I'm old enough to drink. And, Santana was my messenger today. She took two for herself."

It has been so long since the last time that Dave had a beer that he's not going to pass this chance. Artie motions him to have a sit, and Dave sits at a small table with only one chair. Dave guessed that it's only for Noah.

He looks around, and their trailer looks not a lot different to his own, except for the fact that Artie and Noah don't have a dining area or kitchen section, but a second bed. Then there's a counter, the table, and clothes and books all over the place. Over the counter, they have a record player.

"You have to take that one," Artie informs him. "But let's put some music first, shall we?"

"Man, you don't have to give me your record player," Dave tells him, taking two bottles of beer from the bucket, and opening them. "It's yours."

Artie chuckles. "You spend lots of time alone, Dave. It's fine with us. And it's not like we don't ever listen any music. There's always music on in the camp. Louis Armstrong is good for you?"

"The man is a genius."

Artie put a Louis Armstrong record, and as the music starts filling the trailer, the other guy wheels himself towards the table, taking the beer that Dave offers to him. They raise their bottles in a silent toast, and the first swig of beer, feels like heaven in Dave's throat.

He lets out a content sigh.

"Good?"

Dave grins. "Amazing. I haven't had a beer in months."

"Don't get used to it. Will's not very fond of us drinking alcohol," Artie tells him, sounding a little sad. "Unless it's Christmas or some big occasion. I don't know why, since it's not like we get super drunk or something. So tell me, how are you doing?"

Dave smiles to himself; he is not sure if they're concerned about his stay in the circus due yesterday's events or since they're simply worried about his welfare. Either way, Dave thinks it's very considerate from them to show that they care about his comfort in the circus, so he doesn't complain.

"I'm doing really well," Dave replies, sipping on his drank. "All things considered."

Artie raises a brow. "All things considered being yesterday's crazy situation with Kurt?"

Artie's tone of voice is playful, so Dave's glad that at least one of them is not so death serious about Kurt. Artie's mood at this whole thing is easing, and helps a lot to cope with the tension around Kurt's situation, at least right now. Dave's sure that before he joined the circus, they weren't so sensitive about it.

Dave can't help laughing. "It was quite a crazy situation, indeed. But I get why you were so overprotective; I don't mind now."

"You'll get used to Kurt. He's a good guy, we like him lots," Artie tells him, and Dave nods, interested since he doesn't know much about Kurt but his ability to see the future. Dave can't imagine Kurt acting sort of normal, so he really wonders how they bond with him.

"Must be hard. Him, seeing constantly your future," Dave muses.

"He's much better now. At first, you couldn't even go near to him. He's doing really great. We actually spend long afternoons talking about music and stuff. And he makes great outfits. You should have seen us with our old costumes."

"Too bad?"

"Horrible! Now we look like a real circus," Artie assures him. "Back then, we were just a bunch of freaks."

And Dave grows curious, once again. "How long have you been in here?"

"In the circus you mean?"

"Yes."

Artie presses his lips, thinking hard. "Six years I think. I was only fifteen when I joined it. I met William; the circus was in my town. And I knew I could move objects with my mind, but never told anyone about it."

Dave frowns. "No one knew?"

"Pfh. If I told my mother, she would have probably called the priest to exorcise me," Artie says, laughing and Dave laughs as well. "It started when I was ten. I was already in this chair, but in my bad the first time. I was upset because I just couldn't reach my glasses; they were in my nightstand, and suddenly they just flew right to my hand. I thought I was crazy, but by my own, I kept practicing and, things kept on landing in my hands."

Dave really likes to hear his friend's stories. He realizes that just like Rachel, Artie kept his abilities in secret.

"Did you all keep in secret your abilities? I mean, from your families and stuff?"

Artie presses his lips hard again. "Hum, not all of us. Noah's family knew that he could occasionally lift heavy stuff up. But they are not aware of how heavy are the things that he can lift up. Kurt's dad knows what he can do, and Finn's mom knows what Finn does as well. But the rest, well no. Imagine that, people are not very understanding. They can't comprehend that a black girl can date a white guy, or that two guys or two girls can love each other, so how would ever be able they understand that their sons and daughters can do the things we do?"

Dave shrugs. He understands, but not very much though. Unlike the circus guys, he doesn't have a family, and he has never been aware that he had an ability like to have something to tell somebody. He's not sure how families deal with their children's gifts, basically because he stopped having a family when he turned nine. Or at least, Dave thinks so. Now that he has an ability as well, but there's no family with him…

"But they are your parents. Didn't you say that Finn's mom and Kurt's dad-"

"Those are rare cases. Brittany assured to everyone that she could talk with the animals, and everyone including his parents, thought she was stupid and retarded. Santana was kicked out from her house when his mother saw her disappearing, claiming she was the devil."

Dave's stomach flips in disgust. How could anybody treat Santana or Brittany like that? They're both lovely girls, including Santana who in spite of her temper, she's a really good girl.

"Jesus…"

Artie nods. "So the circus was in town. It wasn't a circus, they were more like... street performers. It was just Will, Rachel, Finn, and Mike. After they were done, I approached them since I thought they could, I don't know… I wasn't going to tell them I could move stuff with my mind, so I was going to say I knew some magic tricks. But of course, Rachel read my mind and she knew it. They told me about them, and I immediately wanted to be part of this whole thing. My mother practically disowned me when I told her I was joining a traveling circus; it wasn't the life she pictured for me, but at the same time my future narrowed when I landed on this wheelchair so it's not like was going to have great opportunities. She came around after a few months, since she knows that William takes care of us."

Dave quivers a smile. At least this story has a happy ending, or a better ending than Santana's. Also, Artie has been in the circus for long, so that means that the circus has no plan to be over soon. Therefore, for the first time Dave can see a somewhat steady future for him in the circus.

And he's more curious about his friends now. They have found him by chance, so he wants to know how they all got together and if they had been as lucky was he was.

"And what about the other guys? How did they join here?"

Artie took a long drink of his beer, and frowns like he's trying hard to remember. "After I joined, we were… I think in Colorado, when Santana came to us. We were camping, and she was pretty much a homeless girl who disappeared from one place to another, stealing stuff for living," he says and Dave's heart sinks. "She knew Britt; Britt comes from a very conservative family in Boston. They met randomly, I think at some park. Brit helped Santana out one night she found her on the streets on a rainy night."

"In Boston?"

"Santana traveled all around the country due her gift," Artie explains. "So she was with us in Colorado, and that night disappeared to Boston to see Britt and she told her about us. By then, Brittany already showed to Santana what she could do with animals. And since Santana can carry with her stuff, but not people, we changed our route and went to Boston to get Brittany."

Dave can't get too sad at hearing their stories since he knows that at the end, it all turned alright. After all, they're all are together now.

"After that, we improved our acts and we met Noah at some local fair in Kansas. He was a farmer, and once his little sister had an accident in a tractor. She wasn't even supposed to climb one, so well, she ended up crushed beneath it, and out of desperation, Noah lifted it to take his sister out. He was the local hero, but he started testing his strength and discovered that what he has done, it wasn't just because of his desperate state."

Dave grins like mad. Everything sounds so exciting, and he can't help feeling a little jealous. His ability sucks so badly… he wouldn't even call it a 'gift.' Never in his life he's been in any amazing situation until he joined the circus.

"And he kept the secret," Dave guesses.

"We all did. He thought we could use a strong man in our little show," Artie told him laughing. "It's always fun when guys joined that way. Like myself, or him. Not knowing that the secret we had wasn't so unique and the circus people actually knew better. I think later we found Blaine and Mercedes"

Dave's eyes light up. "Blaine. The guy who left?"

Artie nods. "The same. But Rachel found him, I think it was in Chicago. She read his mind in a ice-cream parlor, and he was thinking about his gift so she stalked him a bit and then told William about him. We went to pick him later."

"What did he do?"

"He controlled electricity. He could light up of an entire room just with a blink of his eyes," Artie says and Dave opens his eyes wide in surprise. That sounds impressive. He's about to ask more about this Blaine guy, mostly to find out why he left and where, since he remembers that Noah has told him that Blaine joined another circus.

But Artie keeps on talking, so Dave shuts his mouth. "Little by little, we started saving money to buy more trailers. We were super packed, since we had just a couple of cars and two trailers and we started growing bigger. William thought about turning our acts into a real show, people paying tickets was better than a pay what you wish show."

"What's up you guys?"

Dave and Artie turn around, to find Mercedes walking inside the trailer, followed by Sam. They're holding hands, their smiles are big and contagious so Dave smile at them.

"I love these parties," Sam notes, picking two bottles of beer from the pack. He hands one to Mercedes and they both sit in one of the beds. "What were you doing guys?"

"I was telling our friend Dave about the New Direction's history. You were about to join us, 'Cedes," Artie explains to her, and she grins.

"I joined this circus on March the 3rd of 1933," she says with a proud tone of voice. "The circus… well, it was just a street show, but they came to my town. I wanted to be part of them, and of course, even if I was just part of the small audience, Rachel read my mind and found out about my secret and Sam's."

Dave frowns right away. Obviously, Rachel had a lot to do with most of the guys joining the circus. Her nosy nature isn't so bad now, since Dave can see the benefits of it. If Rachel wasn't so nosy, they would have never found most of the guys.

Yet, Dave didn't know that Mercedes and Sam knew each other before joining the circus. He simply assumed that they met in the circus and fell in love, since people in the New Directions has no issues about them being together.

"You knew each other before joining?"

Sam grins. "I used to go to fly, far from my house. No one had to see me," he says. "So I used to take my bike and ride miles away, to this lake that was always deserted of people. It turned that Mercedes used to go to swim to this lake, for the same reasons. She lived near to the lake though."

Mercedes bursts into laughing and Dave immediately smiles, waiting for her to say something and share the joy. "He thought I was drowning! You should have seen his face, poor boy!"

Sam blushes, but Dave laughs, wanting to know more. "What happened?"

"She just jumped in the water and never came out! What was I supposed to think?" Sam defends himself, half upset and half amused. "She wasn't aware I was there, but I jumped into the water to-"

"To save me. Aw, honey, you're so sweet," she says, kissing him softly on his cheek and for a second, Dave envies them.

Sure he has sex lots many times like to remember all his conquers, but they've all been one night conquers. He's never had the chance to be with someone for more than one night, and seeing Sam and Mercedes makes him wish he had something like what they have.

"I played dead though," Mercedes tells Dave, now more serious. "I was with this cute blond white guy; I couldn't tell him that I could breathe underwater. And he saw me willingly jump into the water, so he was concerned because he thought I was trying to kill myself or something. He offered me support and stuff, and we sort of became friends. After sometime, we told each other our secrets."

Dave smiles at that, because it's like at the end, they all got to find someone. Santana met Britt, and they stopped being lonely about their abilities. Mercedes and Sam were just the same.

"It's so good you never get to be alone. With your abilities, I mean."

Mercedes shrugs. "Life gathers us around, sooner or later," she says, giving him a knowing smirk.

"And we joined together," Sam finishes with a pleased grin, making a silent toast with his girlfriend.

Dave grins. He can actually imagine that. It was all mostly joyful, until he remembers that they started talking about the New Directions Circus due Kurt and he instantly wants to know about that.

"A little bird told me that there's beer in here," Sebastian says, walking inside the trailer. He quickly finds the bucket and takes a beer for himself. "You're having a secret meeting or something?"

"They're telling me the story of the New Direction's circus," Dave tells him, feeling like a little child.

"You were about to join us," Sam points out, and Sebastian laughs, opening his beer, sitting on the floor in Indian style.

"Did Rachel read your mind and found out about your gift?" Dave asks, and the guys laugh, but then he realizes that he doesn't know what Sebastian's ability is. "Wait, I don't know what you can do?"

Sebastian nods, knowingly. "So I was out this night; I was in this lousy club in New York suburbs."

"You're from New York?" Dave inquires. He's never been in New York, but he's always heard it's like the most amazing city.

Sam snorts. "Born and raised in a blue blood family," he says, and Sebastian narrows his eyes at him, faking disdain. "The Smyth's are one of the top aristocrat families in New York."

Dave gapes at Sebastian, who just shrugs at him. How come a guy from an aristocrat family, decides to join a traveling circus? Dave loves to be part of the circus, but if you were born in a golden cradle, then it must be a weird transition to live in a trailer and eating in the open.

"So I was there, because at this bar of questionable reputation, allowed me to drink alcohol even if I wasn't legal to do such a thing. Also, because it was the kind of bar that, sometimes I could find people like me."

Dave nods, knowing what kind of bars Sebastian is talking about.

"And he tried to flirt with Noah," Mercedes blurts out, bursting out in laughing and Dave starts laughing as well, while Sebastian is blushing furiously.

"He's not even my type so, duh, I was terribly drunk," Sebastian retorts but his friends continue to laugh.

"What was Noah doing there?" Dave enquires, since Noah really doesn't look like he's homosexual as well.

"We had made a few performances in New Jersey. Since we've got a little money, Noah drove to New York; someone told him about this bar so he went over there," Artie tells him, sipping on his beer.

"To hook up with guys?" Dave can't help asking.

They all burst out laughing even louder, and Artie chokes on his beer.

"To get some alcohol in spite of not being legal," Sam tells him between laughs.

"So Noah turned me down politely, but I'm terrible when I drunk and I didn't welcome the rejection. I got super aggressive. We started arguing and the bartender kicked us both," Sebastian continues, still blushing. "Noah was mad because he finally could have a drink and because of me, he got kicked out. But I was very drunk, and I was still mad so we first pushed each other around, and then we started fighting for real."

No one says a word, waiting for Sebastian to tell the rest. Dave is growing very curious. "You fought Noah? But he has super strength… can't imagine what a punch coming from his fist must feel like."

"Exactly. We didn't really fight. I kept on pushing him around; he didn't really want to fight with me at first, but then he lost it and punched me. I literally flew like fifteen feet into a dark alley. I swear, I sobered up all suddenly."

Dave is now gaping at Sebastian. "He must have fractured your skull, at least."

Sebastian smiles. "He didn't do anything to me. Noah instantly ran after me, thinking he had killed me or something, he picked me up from the floor and saw how my almost destroyed mouth came altogether, until it healed perfectly after within a few seconds. That's my gift: I heal. I can't never get hurt or feel any physical pain. If you weren't around, I could slice my hand open and it would instantly heal."

"Oh, my God," Dave whispers out, awed.

"Yup. So Noah realized I was one of them, and I realized that there was something about Noah since it was humanly impossible to be that strong. I knew I had this thing with me, but I didn't know there were other people with weird gifts. We apologized, and after an awkward moment of 'who is this guy?' we ended up wandering around the suburbs all night long. He told me about the circus and I joined them that same morning."

Dave can't believe it. Are they all so amazing? He suddenly wishes he was there when to see them all joining the circus. Every thing they tell him about the New Direction history is incredible. Dave feels he's such a loser.

"What do you do in the show?" Dave asks, since he's aware that Sebastian is part of the act but he wonders is he turns his gift into a performance or if he does something else, like Rachel or Tina do.

"I'm the sword-swallower."

Dave takes a long sip of his beer. He's bewildered; he knows about swords-swallowers and he always thought that people who did that were some kind of incredible, but Sebastian is in a new level of incredible. All of them are beyond incredible.

"You guys are really something," Dave mutters, astonished.

"That's New Directions for you, big boy," Mercedes replies.

"And Kurt?" Dave asks, trying to sound casual. "When did he join you?"

The faces of his new friends change, not for good or for bad. There're soft smiles in their mouths, and longing eyes, like they're torn between happy and sad memories.

"That was in Ohio, six months after Sebastian joined us," Sam tells Dave. "We were still street performers. Kurt was a massive mess already. William is friends with Kurt's dad, since they grew up in the same town."

Dave frowns. "But he didn't go to see you perform, right?"

Mercedes snorts, taking a sip of her beer. "Oh, no. Not by a chance. But William met Kurt's dad; he was in town so that night after the show, I think they went out together or something, and Kurt's dad, he told Will about his son and how bad he was."

Dave takes a long drink of his beer as well, paying close attention. "You mean that, he told someone about his son's ability? I thought you were all super secretive."

Artie shrugs. "We don't really know how it went. William never told us. Just one morning, we were supposed to hit the road again, but he told us that we had to stay for a bit longer since apparently he had found someone new. He wouldn't say much at first; he disappeared from the camp for the longest hours."

"He was actually checking on Kurt," Sam intercedes. "After a few days, William told us about Kurt and at first we were a bit wary about having someone like him with us. What William told us about him was quite… well, you know. But then, we all wanted to have him since he was one of us and he had it really bad."

"And William was sure that we could actually help him, so we immediately wanted him with us. Every day that William got back from Kurt's house, we were constantly 'Where is he? Where is he?'" Artie says, acting their apparently, excited mood.

"And William got him," Dave says. "I mean, he's here after all."

They all grin. "William convinced his father to let him come with us. He told him that Kurt would be better with us; I believe that asides Finn's mom, Kurt's dad is the only one who knows about what this circus is really about."

Dave nods, thinking… he doesn't even know what to think.

"And with Kurt came… well, a lot of good things. Also in Ohio, at the same time we've got Kurt, William got this man to sponsor us or something."

"Sponsor?" Dave asks.

"Well, back then we were twelve people travelling in three cars, with two trailers. We don't even know who gave us so much money, even more back then. Economy was more disastrous than what it is now," Artie explains to Dave, who's now curious. Still, if the guys don't know about the generous sponsor, Dave assumes he's not going to find out about it either. "But the thing is that we've got the money to buy the circus tent, and to buy more trailers. We bought five trailers, so imagine how much money that was."

Dave opened his eyes wide, since indeed he couldn't even imagine how much money that could be.

"Plus, five shinny brand new Chevrolet cars," Sam adds. "It was incredible. We didn't understand what the hell was going on. But we left Ohio with Kurt, and a whole new circus. We could finally start making shows and get money from tickets."

"And that leads us to the outfits. This started when I told him about how horrible were out costumes before Kurt joined us," Artie tells his friends, since they were looking at him confused.

"Oh, right! Lord, remember that?" Sebastian says, laughing out loud. "We were a mess."

"When Kurt started being able to be with people, once he saw Santana before performing and he was horrified. Her outfit was terrible, just like the rest of our trailers. So he decided to try to make new ones for us, and he achieved it."

Dave smiles at Mercedes as she says that. "Where does he get all the stuff to make your clothes?"

"His father sends him stuff by mail. He usually sends letters, telling him what he wants or needs."

Dave is sure that there's a lot more in the story of the New Direction circus that he would find later, but Louis Armstrong's trumpet starts the first tunes of 'All Of Me' and his friends clap.

"Man, I love this song," Sam says, standing up. He walks to the record player, and turns the volume up.

Mercedes' dancing while sitting, just like Artie and Sebastian are, and Sam picks his girlfriend, making her stand up, and he dances with her. Sebastian quickly sits at the bed, leaving Sam and Mercedes more room to dance, as they all start singing together.

"_All of me, why not you take all of me, baby? Can't you see? I'm no good without you," _Dave sings along, grinning at Artie who's grinning back at him while Sam and Mercedes dance together.

Life is good, and Dave can't remember enjoying himself this much. It's not much, since it's just a beer with good friends and good music, but to Dave, it's something huge and in spite of all the secrets and the newly weird environment, Dave is sure that, far from what his friends think, he's never going to leave this circus.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Three days after leaving Aurora, they're camping on their way to Fairfield. It's early in the day, and there's a big expectation in the circus crew: for the first time in their lives, Kurt's going to have lunch with them.

Dave helps Quinn, Mercedes and Sam to cook lunch; they're throwing a big fest and even Dave's feeling excited. There's plenty of stuff to eat: Boston baked beans, steamed brown bread, chopped lamb, green pepper, and lemon sandwiches, butter, piccalilli, canned peaches, creamed carrots and peas, sliced peaches, cookies, tea and milk. They have been cooking for hours.

The jolly mood is contagious. Dave's aware that if the circus guys are so protective of Kurt it must be because they like him lots, but it's more obvious now that they're all incredible fond of Kurt; otherwise no one would be acting so excited, looking forward lunch just because this time, Kurt's going to be there.

This is for real a huge event for everyone; after four years of being together, Kurt will get to share lunch with his friends, and though a lunch together could look like it's not a big deal, considering Kurt's past, a lunch with his friends it's something incredible since in the past, he has never been able to do such a thing.

Deep inside, Dave feels important. Ever since he joined the circus, his ability was nothing but useless, and it even complicated everyone's ordinary life. But now, it's because of what _he_ does, that Kurt will be with them all.

Deep inside as well, Dave is not sure how well this is going to turn out. Dave can't forget how scared Kurt looked when he saw his friends walking inside his trailer, so Dave wonders if the kid is going to be able to handle the sight of fourteen people sitting at the table with him.

Dave doesn't say this out loud though. He doesn't want to spoil everyone's bright mood. Yet, he hopes that this time, if Kurt seems to uncomfortable, they'll be able to notice, unlike last time, that they were all so concerned about him, that no one could see beyond their worries to notice that Kurt was panicking until Dave kicked them all out from his trailer.

"Those beans smell great," Quinn points out, as she slices the steamed brown bread.

Dave smiles at her, stirring them in the fire. "They do."

The music is on and everyone is also dressed in their finest clothes. From time to time, Dave feels like he's at some sort of Thanksgiving celebration, or maybe Christmas. Dave has never had a big family; in fact, he stopped having one when he was nine and his aunts died, but he always imagined that this was how big families must celebrate Thanksgiving.

Of course, not in the open and surrounded by trailers that belong to a travelling circus.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Mercedes says with a sing song voice. "My boy is going to be with us. How incredible that is?"

Dave would dare to say that Mercedes seems to be the most exited one, if it wasn't because they all look incredibly happy and excited.

"You're boy?" Quinn asks, amused. "Kurt's my boy."

"Girl, please," Mercedes snaps at her, playfully. "Kurt's my boy. Everyone knows it. We stay nights awake singing Billie Holliday."

"We always have sleep overs; he always does my makeup, and we eat candies and sodas. Best sleep overs ever," Quinn retorts.

Dave watches the girl's interaction, fighting over Kurt and he smiles, wondering how Kurt acts when he's normal. He has to stop being weird at some point, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to have sleep overs with the girls.

"Oh, please. I'm your boy, honey," Sam intercedes, kissing Mercedes in her cheek.

"And Kurt's my boy," Artie joins the conversation. "He secretly hates you all, girls, for being so annoying with your outfits. He already told me I'm his favorite because I never complain about my clothing for the show."

Dave laughs as the girls narrowed their eyes at Artie. In order to avoid a silly fight, Dave starts taking the food to the table. The rest of the guys are coming and going, getting the chairs and all the flatware right. The table is covered with a shiny and clean white tablecloth that Dave has never seen before; Santana and Brittany approach him when they see him carrying the trays with food and help him out to place everything in the table.

Little by little, they all sit down. For some reason, Dave starts getting anxious as they wait for Rachel, who has gone to Kurt's trailer to walk him to the camp. Dave taps his foot at the rhythm of trumpets of Annette Hanshaw's _I Must Have That Man._ It has been long since the last time he heard this song.

All the guys are staring expectantly in direction to Kurt's trailer. There are only two empty seats in the table, and even if Dave can't share the same level of anticipation since he only met Kurt once, Dave starts growing anxious as well.

"They are coming," Dave says, almost gasping and Lord, Tina and Quinn seem like they're about to cry.

Dave feels so out of place that he can't believe it. He can't really relate to anyone, no matter how much he knows about their lives and Kurt's life. Of course, he understands that Kurt's ability is something quite hard to deal with, but he hasn't been around with them all for long like to actually know what they've been through.

Just to focus himself into something, as he felt his heart beating fast in anticipation, Dave starts singing along the music under his breath. _"I need that person much worse 'n just bad, I'm half alive 'n he's driving me mad. He's only human and he's to be had. I must have that-."_

Dave shuts his mouth right away as he realizes what he's singing about, while watching Kurt and Rachel walking arm to arm towards them. Kurt is gorgeous, yes, but Dave doesn't have it badly for him, and the wisest thing to do is not add more fuel to the fire.

As Rachel and Kurt get closer, the first thing he notices was the boy's clothing. While everyone is dressed in their finest clothes, clean trousers, white shirts and vests for the guys, gorgeous dresses and perfect hair for the girls, Kurt is wearing once again, circus clothing.

Kurt walks towards the table with his tight black pants and the knee-high boots that Dave has seen before. And Lord, the kid's wearing a white corset. Clearly this is circus clothing because no men dress like this. As the boy gets closer, Dave can appreciate his outfit even better. The corset is small; not like the ones that the girls wear since those ones cover their breasts. This one is smaller, but equally tighter than the girls'. It only covers Kurt's waist. On the top, the kid has a long sleeved white shirt with broad black horizontal stripes, and the neck of the shirt was very low, revealing yet another plain white shirt under that. In addition, Kurt's wearing fingerless gloves, long up to his elbows.

Definitely, not ordinary clothes but Kurt manages to look more elegant than anyone else in this table. Dave can't help but grinning at the incredible sight.

Yet, his grin fades as he looks up to Kurt's face, and while Rachel is smiling brightly, the boy looks nothing but uncomfortable. Dave knows right away that inviting Kurt to lunch was probably not the best idea they had.

Everyone but Dave gets on their feet to greet Kurt at the table, and the kid looks pretty much tense, wearing a tight forced smile on his lips. When Kurt's eyes land on the table filled with people, Dave can tell that the kid is scared as hell, but trying hard to keep it down. Yet, the boy jumps in his place when Finn starts happily clapping his hands, and everyone joined him. Then he smiles weakly at the gesture, even though wished they all stayed quiet.

"Welcome to a regular New Direction's lunch, Kurt," William greets him, moving the chair for him. Kurt nods silently, still with his tight smile and sits between Rachel and Mercedes.

"Well, not so regular," Mercedes points out. "We don't usually dress this fine or cook so much. But this time, we had to do it in big. And we didn't even let Rachel cook!"

"Mercedes!" Rachel snaps at her, indignantly.

"Oh, God, Kurt it's so great to have you here," Tina blurts out, extending her hand over the table to reach the boy's and squeezes it.

"I hope you won't be horrified because our manners," Finn says, smiling. "You've never seen us all together."

"You're the one having terrible manners during meals, Finn. Don't put the blame on us," Sebastian replies, and everyone laughs but Kurt, who remains way too still, and Dave, who's carefully watching at the boy.

For some reason, Dave believes that he's actually the only one capable to watch after the kid. He realizes that his judgment won't be clouded, since he's detached from this situation.

In the same way that his mates' concern didn't let them see how scared Kurt was that day in his trailer, now they're all too into their own happiness to notice in time if Kurt starts feeling bad. They're all so excited for having Kurt with them, that they can't see beyond that.

Kurt nods again, but never says anything. Dave doesn't take his eyes from Kurt for a second, so he doesn't miss the moment when their eyes meet. The kid has his head slightly bent down, and he's staring at Dave's like he's trying to be subtle about it, but he doesn't look away when their gazes meet.

Dave doesn't look away either; he holds the gaze, and he can't tell if Kurt's growing scared again. Kurt's certainly staring at him like he's from some other planet, and this time, Dave doesn't mind.

"So, let's start eating," William announces. "Kurt, what would you like to have? Kurt?"

The boy blinks, breaking eye contact with Dave. "I'm sorry. What?" he inquires, almost whispering.

William laughs. "It's alright. What do you like to have? We have Boston baked beans, chopped lamb, lemon sandwiches, steamed brown bread," he points at the food that Kurt vaguely watches.

The kid shrugs quietly. "Anything is fine."

The girls start filling Kurt's plate with food, and the kid remains completely still. He stares at his friend's interaction with a glimpse of wariness. It's obvious that Kurt would rather not to be here, since at Dave's eyes, he looks like he's just discovering the outside world. And maybe, that's how it is and Kurt still seems to be like he'd like to go back –maybe even running- to his trailer right away.

At least no one starts hassling Kurt with questions. Yes, they all stare at Kurt constantly, but as they all start eating and chatting, they try to include the boy into their conversations and Kurt never speaks; he just nods and smiles nervously.

Dave starts having his meal, not feeling very talkative. The Boston baked beans taste as good as they smell but the chopped lamb is even better, and when he adds the green pepper and the piccalilli it turns into the best thing that Dave has eaten in a very long time.

From time to time, he catches Kurt staring at him intensely and God, this kid is as gorgeous as he's weird. Dave doesn't want to be heartless or shallow, but Kurt's constant freakish mood takes a lot of sex appeal from the boy.

Kurt eats slowly, always staring at his friends cautiously or at Dave from time to time. He's also incredible quiet; not only he hardly speaks, but he hardly moves as well and when he does, he does it in short and slow movements, like he's expecting a bomb to explode at any minute.

The boy's hand trembles when he tries to pick the knife to cut his pork, and he carefully drops it beside the plate, closing his eyes hard like he's trying to concentrate. Dave keeps his eyes in Kurt's hand, and it's not trembling any less. He's tempted to stand up to at least cut the meat for him, since no one seems to notice that Kurt's trembling so much that he can't even use the knife.

Dave has to give his colleagues some credit though. It's not like they are being careless and oblivious; Kurt's trying really hard to pass unnoticed.

Then he sees Kurt sighing; the kid doesn't ask for help. Instead, he picks the fork and starts eating the Boston beans. It's a shame that Kurt's going to miss the chopped lamb since it tastes amazing.

The girls don't seem to notice how tense Kurt is either; they seem more enthusiastic in their conversations, and even if they talk to the boy quite often, they can't see this.

Dave's sitting far from Kurt, but he sees how the guys do pay closer attention to the boy. Noah, Sam and Finn ask him under their breaths if he's alright. Of course, the kid smiles nervously and nods to them.

By the time that they move to dessert, Dave has stayed as quiet as Kurt. The conversations in the table flow easily, and Dave doesn't join any of them, unless someone is talking directly to him. He's more concentrated in the music in the background. He likes being able to listen to music all time.

As Dave has his sliced peaches, he has a really hard time picturing Kurt playing with Quinn's make up, or staying up all night long singing Billie Holiday songs with Mercedes or doing anything that requires him acting like a normal human being, who can talk to people or… well, do regular stuff, other than staying quiet and looking at people like they're all freaks. Through the whole lunch, the kid has probably said two or three words; he looks constantly scared and about to have a heart attack and he kept on watching at Dave with creepy eyes.

Things goes worse, or at least Dave thinks so, when Rachel fills everyone's glasses with milk. Kurt knocks his glass over when he's trying to hold it with his bad hand, and him, Rachel and Mercedes instantly stand up in order to not get themselves wet with milk.

Yet, at this small incident, everyone grow quickly tense.

"Hey, you're alright?" Sebastian asks Kurt, concerned and Kurt nods quickly, with his eyes wide open.

Everyone's staring at the standing guys. William lets out a laugh, not very amused. Instead he looks worried, and Dave can tell that he's only trying to ease the tension. "It's nothing kids, just a little accident."

But Quinn, Tina and Rachel are already cleaning the table, muttering things like, "It's just a glass, Kurt," "Don't you worry," or "Hey, it's already clean. Nothing to be upset." In fact, everyone starts telling Kurt encouraging words.

Yet, Kurt's standing behind the girls, looking pretty much like he wants to run away from here. At his distance, Dave can hear when he whispers: "I want to go back," but his words get lost in the sudden noise and once the table is clean, Rachel leads Kurt back to his seat and the kid sits down. Kurt doesn't try to hold the glass of milk that Quinn refilled for him though.

The whole circus crew talks round the table for an entire hour after being done with lunch. It's like Dave is having a bad time, but he really wishes this whole thing was over, so Kurt can get the hell out of here.

And it's not like Dave doesn't want him around… actually, it's that, precisely. Kurt's presence doesn't really affect him, but the presence of everyone here, it clearly affects the boy. Kurt never got to relax, not even for a second. They had been together for almost two hours and a half, and Kurt is as tense, as silent and as still as he was when he first sat down at the table. Dave wonders sometimes if the kid is even breathing.

Still, Dave wishes this lunch was over.

* * *

Kurt wishes this lunch was over.

He would stand up and leave, but he doesn't want to be rude. All his friends are so happy to have him here… and Kurt appreciates it deeply. It does make him feel loved and cared about, since all the people who's sitting at the table with him are nothing but thrilled about having him there.

Kurt's grateful for having friends who appreciate him this much; he's aware that his ability makes of him a very complicated person to deal with, but his friends still watch after him, love him and take care of him expecting nothing in return.

The least that Kurt can do for them, is to share lunch with them if they want him to. Yet, he can't fight his own fears.

He's also embarrassed. He can't even manage himself to eat properly, and he's aware that his friends are acting like everything is alright in order not to make him feel uncomfortable. They always do that. They ignore the moments when he gets stuck while he's talking since some vision strikes his mind, or when he stutters repeatedly, trying to ignore his visions or even when he speaks them out loud, or acts them out.

And Dave's sitting just a few seats away from him. Kurt's aware that Dave must think he's the biggest freak, since he can't stop staring at Dave.

Ever since he stepped closer to the camp, and Rachel's future vanished from his head, there has been nothing but silence and quietness. Kurt hasn't been surrounded by so many people in years, but there he is, in the middle fourteen people and Kurt's mind is free from anyone's future.

It's all because of Dave.

Kurt's aware of Dave's ability, but he still can't understand it. There's nothing that Kurt craved more in his life than being unable to see people's future; to be able to interact with other human beings in a normal way, human contact, people's company… he never expected that he was going to get that, ever.

Kurt had resigned himself to his fate long ago, but now he's there, among a bunch of people and he can't cope with the quietness in his mind. A relative quietness, because there are no visions in his head, but Kurt's scared to death.

He's so scared that from time to time, his vision gets blurry and feels his going to faint. Everything hurts; every single muscle of his body is so tense that Kurt's nothing but tired and sore. He's also cold, in spite of the sunny and warm day; he won't stop sweating cold and his hands and feet feel like they're freezing. But in spite of all that, Kurt does his best to stay conscious, trying to breathe properly, even if his throat feels extremely narrow.

He's not used to be in the open; he's not used to be surrounded by so many people and while Dave's there, keeping people's futures away from him, Kurt's life has been in a certain way for too long so he can't just act like nothing bad happens, even if nothing bad is happening.

And Dave's there; William said that he could cancel the abilities of every special person who were close to him within two hundred feet and something from him. They're all very close to Dave, but Kurt's so scared about this particular quietness that he can't help expecting that at some other moment, it'll end and he will suddenly be having fourteen people's futures assaulting his head.

The quietness that Kurt craved for so long to have, now it scares him. In a poor way, Kurt learned how to handle his visions, and how to deal with having some people around him, but he doesn't know how to handle this. Kurt got to grow too used to the miserable life that his ability provided, so now he can't help feeling nervous now.

He can't believe that this is happening. Kurt can't understand it, and these kind of frightening good things don't happen to him; he's ready to run. Part of him expects all of this to end abruptly, and part of him wants to stand up and get close to Dave, as closer he can; hold himself from Dave, because even if he's in a perfect distance to be cancelled by Dave, he wants to get rid any possibility of someone's future sneaking into his head.

His friends chat happily around him, and Kurt can't even listen to what they're saying. Sometimes he nods at them, pretending that he's paying attention to them but he really isn't.

The fear he's feeling almost paralyzes him. These are his friends, but the sight of them all together scares him as hell. Just like it scares him to see his trailer so far from him, and the sun constantly above his head instead of his safe roof separating him from the rest of the world. He doesn't like to be for so long, in a place that lacks of walls, or a door to shut and leave everyone else on the other side, away from his head.

And it doesn't matter if a roof, a wall or a door don't stop him from seeing people's future; he can still pretend that he's safe inside somewhere.

He doesn't feel safe right now. He can't help being jumpy and extremely alert to every noise and every movement that he sees from his friends, because he doesn't know much about this quietness and it could be fragile; this quietness to be fragile, and that it could fade at the most minimal noise.

"Kurt? Kurt."

Kurt blinks, as his train of thoughts breaks and he looks to both of his sides, not knowing who's calling him.

"Kurt," Rachel repeats and the boy stares at her. "Are you alright?"

He lies silently by nodding, since he's not alright. He wants to go back to his trailer; he doesn't want to be here anymore.

"Do you want to go back?" Mercedes inquires quietly. "We won't be upset if you want to. We know this must be weird for you."

A big wave of relief hits Kurt's back; he knows that his friends will understand if he's upset, but it's very different to hear it out loud.

"I want to go back," Kurt whispers. "Yes, I want that."

Mercedes squeezes his hand, and Kurt offers her a tight smile, standing up already.

"Kurt's leaving, boys," Rachel announces loudly, and Kurt jumps in his place in that moment, whishing she was quieter. "We'll be seeing you on dinner, right?"

All of them, _all of them_ except Dave -who has been dead silent and pretty much impassive- they all are staring at him with bright and hopeful eyes. Kurt's heart breaks, since he doesn't want to be back for dinner; he doesn't want to do this again any time soon.

But Kurt smiles weakly. "Yeah, sure," he lies. He doesn't want to disappoint them right now when they look so expectant. Right now, he wants to leave this place; later he'll figure out something to skip dinner. "It was lovely to see you all. Thank you for this. It really means a lot to me."

And that's the truth. No matter how uncomfortable he is, he really appreciates what his friends has done for him.

"It was great to have you here, Kurt," Sebastian tells him and everyone nods but Dave, who remains inexpressive.

With a one last smile to his friends, Kurt turns around and starts walking away. As he gets further from the camp, he starts; his trailer is every second closer to him, and Kurt smiles to himself, because _finally_ he's going to be back, safe and sound to his little and packed trailer.

But he's almost there, only a few feet away from his trailer when it hits him.

"_No, no, you guys, stop it!" Rachel yells. The lake is right there in front of her; Santana, Brittany and Mercedes are already in, staring at her and laughing, while Finn and Sam are dragging her to the edge of the dock where she's standing. "I'm not even in my swimming suit!"_

_Rachel falls into the lake. She sinks deep into the warm water that is all over around her._

"Kurt! Kurt! Are you alright?" Rachel asks, worriedly.

Kurt opens his eyes, and pants like he's the one under water with no air instead of Rachel. He notices that he's on his hands and knees on the ground, trying to catch some air, because he even if he sees the grass right in front of him, he sees the water around him at the same time; the surface is above himself, and he's trying to reach it. Rachel kneels down by his side, resting her hand on his back, rubbing it.

"Kurt, answer me."

"I can't breathe," Kurt blurts out, panting loudly, trying hard and failing to step out of his vision. "W-water."

"You're right here with me," Rachel states, firmly and loudly. "Kurt, you're right here. There's no water around."

_Rachel swims to the surface, and when she's able to remove her wet hair from her eyes, she spots both boys standing on the dock, are grinning at her. _

Kurt straightens up on his knees, rubbing his hands over his face, trying to remove all the wet hair that is not really stuck to his face. "You jerks!" He yells, enraged.

_Finn and Sam laugh, and then they take a few steps backwards, only to run to the edge of the dock, jumping in the water right where Rachel is swimming. They splash her entirely._

"_You jerks!" Rachel yells again, coughing, since there's water in her throat. "It's not funny, you know?"_

_Santana, Brittany and Mercedes are laughing, and at the edge of the lake, Dave and Quinn are standing in the water that reaches their knees, both holding fishing rods. They are grinning as well._

Kurt coughs loudly, almost feeling in his throat all the water he got to swallow with his friend's the splashing. "Stop doing this! I told you it's not funny! C'mon, Rachel, have a bit of sense of humor. You call this humor? I didn't even want to come here! It's September, Rach. We have to take advantage of the good weather; we don't know when-"

"Stop it!" Rachel yells loudly, shaking him in his place. "Focus, please!"

Kurt shakes his head, blinking repeatedly. He can finally start putting his visions in the back of his brain, being able to see just Rachel, right in front of him and his trailer a few feet away.

"I didn't see you coming," Kurt blurts out, taking a few deep breathes. "It caught me off my guard."

Rachel gives him a sympathetic look and helps him to get on his feet. They both start walking towards his trailer. "It's alright. I called you. You didn't seem to hear me; are you mad at us?"

Kurt frowns at Rachel. "I'm not mad at anyone."

"I thought you were ignoring me," the girl says quietly, holding his hand.

A pang of guilt hits his stomach. He really didn't hear her. "I think I was too into my thoughts. I'm sorry, Rach."

"September, uh?" Rachel points out. "That's quite a far future."

Kurt has to agree, since his visions were never meant to happen too far from present. From what they could figure out, his visions usually take real shape instantly, within a few hours, a few days and up to two weeks ahead. But it's 31st of July today. There's at least a whole month ahead.

Kurt doesn't even want to figure out what does that mean.

When they get inside his trailer, Kurt closes his eyes, enjoying the enclosure. Rachel closes the door behind her, and Kurt grins happily, walking towards the wall where all the costumes are hanging and he buries himself among the layers of clothes. He's so contently relieved.

_Rachel laughs as she splashes water over Finn. Finn is doing the same to her._

"_Let's play some race! Who reaches the shore first!" Brittany says, still swimming around Santana._

"_No. Let's play who can stay underwater for longer," Santana suggests._

"_Not fair! Dave is there!" Mercedes complains._

"_Precisely! This time you don't get to win, Jones." Santana retorts._

"Kurt," Rachel calls him firmly. He has the feeling she has been calling him at least once or twice more.

"What, Rach?"

"Seriously, are you alright?"

Kurt sighs, blissfully. "I'm happy to be back," he admits, removing himself from the pile of clothes. Rachel's standing there, with her arms crossed over her chest with a suspicious look in her eyes.

He walks towards his bed, with his hands constantly touching the walls just to remind himself that he's inside his trailer and not in the open anymore.

"This wasn't something good for you, right?"

He can hear the disappointment in her voice and it breaks his heart. When he looks up to her, she looks sad and Kurt presses his lips together, not knowing if he will be able to conceal his uneasiness for longer.

"No. No, it wasn't," he admits, sitting down in his bed. Rachel takes a seat at the chair of his vanity, and Kurt can tell that she's trying hard not to show her frustration.

"But David was there. You didn't see anyone of us, right? I mean-"

"I didn't," Kurt cuts her off, deciding to come out clean. "But Rach, I was so afraid… I did my best to keep myself quiet in order to not to worry you all but… I know how much it means for you all, and it means a lot to me," he clarifies, since of course, he always wanted to be part of his friend's ordinary life instead of being secluded far away from them.

"David was there," Rachel repeats, assuring and with loving eyes. "Nothing was going to happen. Nothing bad will happen if he's there."

Kurt groans, feeling frustrated. "You don't understand how this is, Rachel! It freaks me out to be out there. For years, the farther I got from my trailer has been the costumes' trailer! And it's right next to mine! You know how it went the few times I got further than that, and it was never good. And the people, _God, you're so many…_ You cannot even imagine the panic I felt by being outside with you all; I swear to you that the only thing I could feel was my heart trying to jump out of my chest and the cold sweat running down my neck," he explains to her, and a chill runs down his spine as he recalls the endless lunch.

Rachel stares at him, and Kurt can see how wretched she's feeling at his words. She opens her mouth and then she closes it again, like she doesn't know what to say. Kurt feels terrible; he's disappointing everyone, even himself, and he truly believed that after all the trouble his friends took because of him, the least he could do in return was sharing a meal with them.

"It's just until you get used to it," Rachel mutters. "Remember that when you first joined the circus, you could hardly stand having us close. This? Us, talking right like this? At first you only wanted to be left alone, but we kept on trying and you got used to us and you even learned how to handle your visions."

She's right and Kurt knows it, but he's not sure if he wants to go through that again. It took him years to be able to achieve the little peace he has now. And he doesn't want to depend on Dave to be able to be with people; Kurt should manage to grow more control over his visions. It's not Dave's fault that Kurt sucks so badly at controlling his ability.

Kurt swallows hard, and he doesn't even want to meet Rachel's gaze, feeling embarrassed. "I don't know if I want to try, Rachel."

"Kurt..."

"_Don't be mad at me, Rach," Finn tells her, as she dries herself with a towel inside of her trailer. She's still on her clothes, completely soaked and she glares at Finn but she can't manage to stay mad at him._

"_Of course I'm mad at you," she lies, but she smiles when Finn throws his arms around her waist, kissing her damp neck._

"_You look lovely."_

Kurt shakes his head quickly, trying to focus in the present. Sadly, he can't remember what he and Rachel were talking about. Rachel's giving him a questioning look, and Kurt sighs, defeated.

"I'm sorry. You were saying?"

As usual, Rachel's not mad at him for not following the conversation. After all, she knows and understands the reason why he spaces out. "You told me you didn't want to try going out."

Oh, right.

"It's not you. I swear the only thing I want for my life is to be normal; for the last four years, I see you all in my visions… Do you think I don't want to be part of all that?" He inquires, because from time to time, he has the feeling that everyone is going to think that this doesn't matter much to him like to do the effort.

Rachel opens his mouth to reply but once again, nothing comes out.

"The only way I have to be part of your everyday lives is in your futures," Kurt states, and his voice starts quivering. This is not fair. He has a small chance to be sporadically normal and he can't even grow the strength to take it. "I see you, eating every night together, or promenading, performing, singing together, playing around..." his voice trails off.

Jesus, his life is a mess. He has been growing depressed since forever, and he always does his best to act like he's completely fine, but in moments like this one, Kurt can't conceal his sadness.

It only takes Rachel to squeeze his hand once, to make Kurt start crying silently. He quickly wipes his tears away, not wanting to make a scene. Rachel rubs his back, and Kurt leans his head on her shoulder.

"You could have that, Kurt," Rachel tells him softly.

"I just want to stop being afraid," Kurt cries out. "And I managed to be in peace, Rachel. I don't want to go back to that. You can't even imagine how frightening this is for me."

Rachel shushes him, rocking him slightly. "But what are you afraid of? Us? All of us together?"

Kurt snorts. "Everything? It's all the same. Being outside, not being able to control who's next to me, how many people are close to me. The future, Lord, the constant future… I won't be able to handle it if something goes wrong. You know that; and being lost in the future reminds me of..."

He can't even say it.

That year at the asylum has been probably the worst in his life. His ability was so damn _powerful_ that Kurt has for a very long time, the future of tons and tons of crazy people in his head. The asylum was already the most horrible place that anyone could be in, so the future of the patients was incredible painful, scary and dark. The future was always there, so at some point Kurt stopped being aware of the present around him. The future was so constant, that Kurt got lost into it until it became a confusing, vivid and painful reality.

Kurt became all of them; he was all the patients in their futures. He got to suffer their distress, they sorrow, their catatonic moments, their desperate moments like if they were his own. It got even worse when he tuned in a very distressed patient, who was going to kill himself, because in that moment, that patient's future became Kurt's own present and he did smash a window with his bare hands, and cut his writs with the broken glasses, like this man was going to do some time later.

It only led to be tied up down to his bed, since doctors thought that asides of being mental, he was also suicidal. Those dark times only stopped when they drugged him to unconsciousness. Yet, as soon as he started coming on his senses, all the visions were back. Thankfully, the doctors decided to keep him almost permanently asleep but Kurt still couldn't forget about all what he had been through, the hell he had been at and the awful things he had seen.

Almost six years passed since that terrible experience and Kurt still has nightmares about those days.

And he isn't crazy, or stupid; Kurt is aware that no matter how bad he can get, he'd never go back to the asylum, but the fear is still there.

"You're not going to end up in the asylum again, Kurt. You're not crazy and we would never let that happen," Rachel assures him as if she was reading his thoughts, though she isn't since she never reads his mind. "And David-"

"It's even worse," Kurt cuts her off. "I handle it even worse. It's so quiet around him, that when he's gone, the future strikes me so hard that…" God, he can't even explain it. "Last time, only Will was with me. And David left, and he was just _one person_ Rachel, William, and his future hit me so hard that I could hardly step out of it. It's not just visions, I can _feel them_; like I felt them before. And look what just happened! You approached to me, and not only I saw a very far future but… Jesus, you were underwater and I felt I was soaked, and the water down my throat and_I couldn't breath. _"

Rachel's eyes light up, excitedly. "That's why! Maybe that's why! You're never so out of guard like after being with him! The future is harder," she gushes out, and Kurt rolls his eyes at her. She loves finding explanations to everything and Kurt doesn't even care about having an explanation to this. He just wants it to be over. "You just have to learn to keep your guard on, in a stronger way than you usually do-"

"I don't want to do that, Rachel," Kurt states, exhausted. "And David…"

Rachel frowns. "You don't like him."

Kurt lets out a desperate laugh. "He brings peace, Rachel. Part of me wants to sit by his side for the rest of my life but…"

"But?"

"I can't depend on that, Rach," he says lamely. "I can't forget that it's me the one who has to learn to push people's futures away from my head. It took me only minutes to cling myself to that quietness, and if I do it for longer… and he won't be around forever. We don't even know for how long he's stay."

Rachel arches an eyebrow, clearly not amused. "I highly doubt he'll leave. You don't know him as we do, but trust me, I don't think he'll leave any time soon."

"People_ leave_, and you know that. We knew Jesse, and Blaine and look how that ended."

The girl scowls at him. "He's not going to run away with the Dalton boys. They wouldn't even want him."

"It's still the same!"

"No, it's not!"

Kurt sighs, frustrated. "Even if he stays forever, it's not real, Rachel! I won't be avoiding people's futures because I can, but because he's around. And I can't spend the rest of my life glued to him."

This time Rachel says nothing. Obviously Kurt is right and they both know it.

"We have a strong routine," he continues. "I have a strong routine, I know it's not the best but it's the most I can achieve right now. It took me and all of you years to develop what we have right now. I don't want to start all over again."

Rachel stares at him with pitiful eyes. "You're confined to this trailer, Kurt. You can't go outside, you can't meet your friends, you spend most of your time alone and… you take lots of drugs," she says, making Kurt feel uncomfortable and almost offended. "This is not life. You could have it so much better."

"It's what I have," Kurt states, firmly and slightly upset. "I'm sorry it doesn't sound like the best life someone could have to you, but it's what I've got and I'm pretty much grateful for it."

Kurt's not being irrationally stubborn. They just can't understand how hard this is for him. They've never been through what he's been through to comprehend the reason of his fears. They all knew, of course, but they just can't understand it.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"I know you didn't, Rachel, but it upsets me to see that you believe I don't want to do the effort to try this because I don't care enough," Kurt spits out, angry. "Outside, there with you all, I constantly felt like I was going to die at any moment! You hear me saying it, but you can't even imagine how it feels. If you did, you'd understand why I don't want to try it again."

Rachel nods quietly. "So we can forget about dinner, right?"

Kurt swallows hard. "I'm really sorry. But I have you already, and maybe I don't go out, and I only get to see you by separated, but I prefer that than going out. I just can't stand it, Rachel. At least not now."

"Alright," Rachel says, standing on her feet. "I'll tell the others. You take care, alright? And don't think I'm mad at you because of this. I could never get mad at you."

She bends over, and gives Kurt a tight hug; Kurt hugs her back. He's aware that Rachel has a hard time accepting people who don't want to do what she says, so Kurt's very much glad.

Rachel blows him a kiss when she reaches the door, and she's about to leave when Kurt calls her out. He stands up, trying to find his umbrella and Rachel stares at him puzzled until he finds what he was looking for under his bed.

"What?"

"Take this," Kurt hands the umbrella to her.

Rachel frowns for a second but then she nods. The future's always there when Kurt was in the company of someone. It's stronger when he has specific visions, but even when he pushes his visions away, glimpses of the future remain there floating in the air.

Sometimes he knows what his friends are about to say, or if they're going to trip with something he left in the floor. Some other times, even if he has no visions of his friends in some cold weather or eating bad food, he does offer them for sweaters or warns to skip a meal because he knows they're going to fall ill.

It's a weird certainty that Kurt has when people are around him. And it's going to rain. Kurt can't believe it either, since it has been a sunny day, but that's how weather is and Kurt doesn't make the weather. She kisses his cheek and leaves.

Kurt throws himself back onto the bed, trying not to feel guilty. He already did his best; he wishes he was stronger but sadly, he isn't and he doesn't want to test himself, to see how stronger he could be.

Hopefully, his friends won't mind.

A loud thunder resounds, making Kurt only blink; right after the loud thunder, he hears the rain drops hitting every time harder the roof of his trailer. He hopes his friends had time to put inside all the tables and stuff.

Kurt lets out a sigh, exhausted and he wants to take a nap, but he decides to wash himself first. He sweated a lot during lunch and there's no way in hell he's going to get inside his bed in this state.

Kurt puts some music on, while he gets his bucket of water, the sponge and his towel. Kurt takes his corset and shirts off, and sinks the sponge under the water, squeezing it before rubbing it over his neck and shoulders. Immediately after that, he dries himself quickly in order to prevent getting the floor wet.

He does the same with his arms and his torso, and then he gets the rest of his clothes off, to wash his entire body. Once he's fully clean, he covers himself with his robe and prepares his bed to take a long nap.

Yet, Kurt's about to get in the bed when a knock at his door makes him jump on his place. At first, he thinks it was only the rain, but then he hears another knock and he frowns.

He gazes his door with wide open eyes; his heart is suddenly beating fast inside his chest. There's someone outside, under the rain and Kurt can't see any future. Being caught off his guard is something that Kurt is not used to and he's not liking it in the slightest.

Kurt frowns, with his eyes fixed on the door and he keeps on trying to see some future, in order to figure out who's outside. Yet, he quickly realizes that if there's someone outside and he can't see that person's future, it's because it's Dave. It has to be him.

That realization isn't any better, since Kurt can't imagine why Dave would come to see him, when it's raining so hard.

There's only one way to solve the little mystery and that's finding out what does Dave need. Having to face Dave again, it makes him a bit uneasy since Kurt has to let him in of course; he wouldn't let Dave under the rain and Kurt is not sure how he feels about Dave. They haven't really talked much. So Kurt walks towards his door but when he opens it, there's no one there. Kurt sticks his head outside, feeling the raindrops hit his face, and he spots Dave far from his trailer and walking towards the camp under the pouring rain.

Kurt doesn't understand a thing. Dave came to his trailer just to knock at his door and leave? Is Dave playing with him?

Yet, when Kurt's about to get back inside, his gaze lays upon the steps of the door and finds a plastic bag. Kurt kneels down, picking it up and he instantly realizes there's a plate inside of it.

With the bag in his hands and a frown in his face, Kurt walks back inside his trailer, closing the door behind him. He places the soaked plastic bag over his table and when he opens it, he sees a plate with food and a note.

Kurt takes them both, the plate with food and the note. He quickly notices that the food is actually the chopped lamb he didn't try during lunch, and his lips curl into a soft smile, even if he doesn't understand quite right what this is about.

So Kurt reads the note: _''It's a shame you couldn't taste the chopped lamb, so have some. I warmed it a little and I already cut it for you. Enjoy, Dave.'_

Kurt blinks. Indeed, that's the meat that Kurt couldn't try because he couldn't use the knife. He instantly blushes, embarrassed. Dave noticed he couldn't cut the meat? Lord, Dave's the new guy and now Kurt's sure that the guy must think that he's a stupid freak.

Still, his heart warms up a little since this is a nice gesture. In addition, Dave didn't even try to talk to him. Maybe Dave doesn't even want to talk to him, but Kurt doesn't believe that Dave think so poorly about him if he's as considerate as to walk under the rain to leave the food he couldn't taste at his door.

Kurt picks a piece of lamb with his fingers, taking it to his mouth and he moans. Indeed, it's delicious. He picks the plate and walks towards his bed, laying down on it. He places the plate of food over his belly and continues to eat the chopped lamb, feeling slightly content about the kind gesture that Dave had with him.

He doesn't know Dave in the slightest, but he appreciates how much space he's giving to him. Kurt is not sure what Dave thinks about him, but apparently the he's fine with his weirdness. Maybe. At the end, everyone gets used to his weirdness.

After being done with his meal, Kurt puts the plate under his bed and covers himself up, ready to rest. At least he's exhausted now, so he won't need any pills to sleep deeply and nightmare free.


	8. Chapter 7

**AN:** I'm sorry for the mistakes you might have found while reading this. The .doc got fucked and I didn't realize while uploading it.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Hey, Davey. What are you doing?" Brittany asks, sitting at the table with him.

Dave is not doing anything but drinking some coffee by himself in the camp. Half of the guys have left to Atlantic City in order to do some shopping. It had been a great weekend; the original schedule at Sunbury was one show on Friday. Yet, they sold out and they had to add two more shows, performing on Saturday and Sunday as well.

Of course, Dave wasn't able to attend to the show, but his friends had told him that had been one of the best audiences ever. In addition, due the great ticket sells, Dave –and the rest of the circus crew- got for himself fifty-five bucks, which is a lot considering that they only got that within three days of work and Dave didn't even perform. Dave hasn't had so much money in his hands in quite a long time.

Due the illegal gambling, Atlantic City is pretty much a successful city in spite of the recession that hit the whole country, so William decided to take them to do some shopping, since they all wanted to buy stuff with the money they have gotten. The city is only a few miles away from the camp.

They do it in turns; the camp can't be left alone not only because someone has to look after their stuff, but also because Kurt would be alone as well if everyone left together. A new rule that Dave learned during his stay with the New Directions Circus is that Kurt can't ever be left alone.

At first, Dave found it contradictory since Kurt spends most of his time by himself. Wouldn't be the same if no one's around? From what Dave gathers, if they all went to promenade somewhere, between lunch and dinner, Kurt would probably not even notice it. But then, Dave was told that sometimes, sleeping pills make Kurt ill or that some other times he has –apparently- terrible nightmares that make him really upset and they need to take care of him. So when Kurt feels ill or very upset, he rings a bell that's hanging next to his door, to let others know he's in need without having to go to the camp.

They told Dave they developed that system during the days that Kurt joined the circus and that currently, Kurt hardly ever rings the bell. But it still happens from time to time. Dave also learns that he needs to pay more attention, since this bell has been always hung by the door of Kurt's trailer and Dave passed by it twice and missed it.

Yet, ever since he joined the circus, Dave has never heard the bell sound so he figures that everything is pretty much alright and it doesn't affect his life much either.

But it's just a new routine Dave gets to learn. He promenades a lot with his friends, when they are in the towns they do their shows, but it's the first time they go sightseeing places far from the camp, or at least far enough to have to take the cars.

Dave stayed in the camp with Brittany, Noah, Finn, Sam, Rachel and of course, Kurt. All of them, with the obvious exception –Kurt- are going to Atlantic City tomorrow. Dave plans to buy a suit for himself; a nice suit. He has never been particularly interested in clothing, except during the winter he spent in the streets that he wished for thick wool sweaters. Yet, here in the circus all his friends get to dress nicely every now and then, and Dave's the only one who looks like a beggar.

But that's his plans for tomorrow. Right now, his friends are doing their own stuff while Dave is by himself, peacefully drinking coffee.

He smiles at Brittany. "Nothing much. You? Why did you stay here instead of going to the city with Santana?"

He can't help wondering. If he had a girlfriend –well, a boyfriend- he'd like to be able to go somewhere with him, even more if they are near by an interesting city.

Brittany shrugs. "It's for the best. We're too used to be here, kissing and holding hands. I tend to forget we're not allowed to do that in public."

Dave nods, feeling slightly stupid. But maybe he got too used to see them acting just like any other couple, forgetting as well that that kind of treatment doesn't get to go beyond the circus limits. Then he thinks that for the same reason, Sam and Mercedes never go out together. All the times they promenaded in the towns they performed at, Dave went out in groups that included Sam, or Mercedes but never both of them at the same time.

"Sorry."

Brittany shrugs, grinning at him. "Do you want me to show to you something really amazing?"

"Sure," Dave replies, curious about the blond girl's offer.

She stands up, motioning him to follow her and he does so. They walk just for a little bit, right until they reach the place where the circle of trailers ends. Dave can see that Lily's cage is far from them, at a distance that after over two weeks of being part of the New Direction Circus, Dave got used to measure at a guess: the distance he has to keep from everyone.

"You stay here, and don't be afraid, alright?" Brittany tells him, and Dave frowns but he stays at his place.

Brittany walks away, in direction of Lily's cage and when she gets there, the girl opens the door of the tiger's cozy chamber. Dave can't help noticing that there's nothing holding the animal back. Brittany smiles at Lily, who licks the girl's face with her huge tongue. In spite of being a little scared at the sight of a dangerous wild animal, Dave can't help smiling at that affection.

He can't hear Brittany but it's clear that she's talking to Lily. It's amazing to see the tiger staring at Brittany like she actually listens and understands what the girl is saying to her. Dave has to remind to himself that that's the way it is, since Lily does listen and understand Brittany. It's still amazing though.

Yet, his smile starts fading when Brittany –who's still talking to Lily- points at him, and the tiger actually stares at Dave. It seems like Brittany's giving the tiger instructions, and while Dave thinks that Lily was beautiful, he doesn't like the idea of being the center of those instructions, as he assumes he is.

"Sit on the ground," Brittany says loudly in the distance. "And remember: don't be afraid, alright?"

Whatever it's going to happen, Dave doesn't like it in the slightest but for some reason, he does what the girl told him to and sits down in the grass. And it's right then when the tiger starts walking slowly towards him, and Dave stops breathing. He doesn't even intend to move; he's growing scared because no matter how pretty the tiger is, it's pretty when she's locked in a cage and not walking towards you, being completely vulnerable. Brittany doesn't come closer though, and for a fraction of second, he thinks that that's good because if Lily decides to attack him, the girl will hopefully say something to the animal and the animal will still understand.

Maybe.

Lily gets closer and closer, and she moves gracefully slowly but in a very intimidating way, that gets Dave to almost start screaming like a little girl. He doesn't scream though, since the only brain cell that isn't paralyzed in fear, wisely advises him not to upset wild animal with a girly shrieking. And Dave almost wets his pants, just almost when Lily's face is right in front of his. He stills, not even breathing as the tiger sniffs him, rubbing her wet nose against Dave's cheek.

Yet, when Dave thinks he's about become Lily's lunch, Lily starts licking his face all over, and Dave wants to snort and laugh, but he's too afraid of upsetting the beast who's being nothing but friendly. After giving him some wet kisses, Lily turns around and walks back to Brittany.

Once that Lily is back in the girl's arms –Britt's holding her and kissing her as well- Dave allows himself to laugh and smile. It was damn scary, but at the same time, it was probably one of the best experiences in Dave's life. How many times in your life you get to be kissed by a tiger without having it literally eating your head out? Probably not many.

Maybe if Brittany told him about her plans, Dave wouldn't have been so scared. Of course, there's no way that she was planning to make of Dave Lily's next meal, but still. Dave would have welcomed a small warning.

Lily jumps back in her cage, and Brittany carefully locks it. Dave walks to her, rubbing his sleeve over his face since it's damp with tiger's saliva.

"That was incredible indeed," Dave points out, making Brittany smile. "Scary, but incredible."

"She's a good kitten. I just told her to go to give you a kiss and come back to me," the girl explains as they heads back to the camp together. "No need to be afraid of her. She wouldn't hurt you, unless I told her to."

Brittany's probably the most adorable girl that Dave had the luck to meet. Yet, when she says that, in spite of her cute and happy face, she does sound threatening. Dave thinks it's good though; she has a tiger to defend herself and the ones she loves, instead of fists or guns and that's very impressive.

And what's also impressive, is that for the first time since he joined the circus, he got to see Brittany using her ability. By now, Dave has seen almost everyone using their abilities, always from a far distance. But that never happened with Brittany.

"I'll do my best to never upset you," he jokes.

Brittany chuckles. "Nah, she never hurt anyone."

"People must love your act."

The girl stares at him with bright eyes and wide smile, nodding. "They do. But it's going to be so much better when Kurt joins us," she says and Dave continues to smile, not to spoil her great mood.

Yet, he doesn't understand a thing so he casually asks. "Kurt's going to be in your act?"

Brittany nods eagerly and to Dave, that doesn't make any sense. Three weeks passed since Dave joined the circus, and over two weeks since the last time he saw Kurt. Hearing Kurt's his name and never seeing his face, it became a normal thing to just Dave, just like it is for the rest of the circus guys. The only difference is that Dave doesn't get to spend time with Kurt like the rest of his friends, since they usually go to the boy's trailer, to share some meal with him.

It didn't surprise Dave that after that lunch all together, the kid was absent in the following dinner, and in all the other circus' gatherings. Kurt didn't go outside again, and it doesn't bother Dave much.

Kurt is a constant presence in Dave's life, but at the same time, he isn't. His name is in the air every now and then, but Kurt himself is never there. Dave resolves it's like God, but not in a religious way. You hear his name, you know he's there somewhere but you never get to see him, and you'd even forget about him quite often.

But if Kurt can't handle one meal with his friends, it doesn't make much sense what Brittany's saying, about them together, sharing an act in the show.

"He will," Brittany assures, looking very excited. "We have it all planned. We're going to have matching suits, and we have even rehearsed it. Lily likes Kurt, and I've taught her to do with Kurt, all the tricks I do with her in the show."

Dave stares at her, still not getting her. They reach the tables and sit down; his mug of coffee is still there but the coffee's now cold. They are sitting across each other, and Dave can't stop giving Brittany a confused glance since she's making no sense.

At some point, she seems to pick up Dave's puzzled state, because she lets out a sad laugh. "Not now, you silly. Kurt can't face a crowd now, but when he learns how to, we'll have our number and it's going to be amazing."

A pang of sadness hits Dave's stomach; Brittany sounds very sure of herself, like she truly believes that Kurt will be able to face such a large crowd. It's also sad to know that Kurt has very unlikely to happen plans for the future he could not achieve.

It's not like Dave has no hope in Kurt, but he's being realistic; after four years of training, Kurt could only learn how to manage to be with three people top close to him. Also, the kid's afraid to go outside his trailer, so Kurt performing in the open, in front of two hundred people, it not something very likely to happen.

At least not any time soon.

It's something sad, but Dave doesn't want to dishearten Brittany, who seems so happy about her and Kurt's plans for their future act.

"I'm sure it's going to be amazing," he humors her, with a kind smile in his face.

"David, I've been looking you forever," Rachel shows up out of nowhere, and her voice sounds preachy. But Dave has also learned not to feel bad about Rachel being preachy; usually, it doesn't mean that Dave is doing something wrong. Rachel's incredibly bossy to everyone, so Dave doesn't take it personally.

"I was just here," Dave replies.

"No, you weren't. I just looked for you in here."

"I just took him to meet Lily personally," Brittany intercedes. "She gave him a few kisses in his cheek."

Apparently, this is not something extraordinary for Rachel since she rolls her eyes, sighing like she's annoyed. "We have some training to do, remember?"

Dave groans. "Can we take one day off?"

"No, we cannot. This is important, David. Up and go," she orders and reluctantly, Dave gets on his feet, saying waving his hand to Britt.

He follows Rachel to his trailer; on their way, Finn joins them.

Dave hates training. He doesn't want to believe it's a waste of time, or that he's a hopeless case but it really seems that it was. They started with two hours of daily training the following day of the big lunch failure. It consists in him, locked in his trailer with Rachel and whoever is willing and available to spend two whole hours doing absolutely nothing.

Rachel says that it's all about focusing, and she makes it sound like it's really simple, but Dave still has no clue about what the hell does focusing actually mean. It's obviously something easy to say, and maybe also easy to understand but difficult to do. There are no proper instructions or any particular advice; he really doesn't know what he can do to focus on not cancelling people's abilities since he doesn't even know how he cancels people's abilities in the first place.

Rachel also has a huge perfect plan for his training. She even showed Dave a notepad where she wrote all the steps they have to achieve, or to better say, that Dave has to achieve. The first step, is to 'unblock her; she calls it that way. According to Rachel, since his ability is cancelling everyone's powers by default, they have to start little by little, therefore, unblocking one single person.

When he gets to do it with Rachel, they'll add a new person to unblock, and that way they'll gradually new people for Dave to unblock at the same time. If things go as Rachel plans, Dave should be able to unblock at first, several individuals at the same time, until he could do it with everyone without even have to think about it. "The same way I don't get everyone's thoughts inside my head, or fire doesn't constantly come out from Finn's body," she said that first day of training.

Then, once he achieves unblocking everyone around without doing any effort, the process would be in reverse: he should have to be able to decide who to cancel. "That's when you truly master your ability, David. You dominate it; it doesn't dominate you. And in cases like you and me, that our gifts are forced onto people, you get to decide whom you're going to impose your ability on."

It sounded easy when Rachel said it, but so far they made no improvements. The guys keep on telling him that it's too soon to expect some major changes but it doesn't make Dave feel any better.

"Here we are," Rachel announces happily when they reach Dave's trailer and Dave only nods, faintly, opening his door to let his friends in.

He knows that Rachel would be as annoyed as he is, if it wasn't because she clearly loves her school teacher role. The three of them step inside and as a habit, Dave throws himself back into the bed. Rachel and Finn sit in the banquettes across each other; Finn picks some bad cartoon magazine that Sam got two towns ago, just to kill his time with something.

"Alright, we'll start now," Rachel says; suddenly with a serious face, as usual. "Remember, Finn, quiet."

Finn frowns. "I know what I have to do. I'll just read some stuff."

Finn doesn't have to do anything. The idea of having a third person is for Rachel to have someone's mind to read in the case that Dave gets to unblock her. Neither William nor Rachel are completely sure about how Dave's gift works, so they can't tell if Rachel will be able to read Dave's mind, if he manages to unblock her.

"Good," Rachel replies sharply. "Now David, focus."

Dave sighs, and closed his eyes as usual. Then, he starts repeating to himself: 'unblock Rachel, unblock Rachel, unblock Rachel,' over and over. He's not sure if that's the way to do it, but he doesn't know any other way.

And that's how they spent those hours. He doesn't know how much time passed when Rachel breaks the silence, snapping at him. "Are you focusing, David?"

Startled at the sudden break of the silence, Dave stares at her, pissed. "Of course I am."

"It looked like you fell asleep," she tells him, sounding upset.

Dave narrows his eyes at her. "Well, I'm not sleeping. I'm focusing, and if you can't read Finn's mind so far, it's not because I'm sleeping, it's because this is not working."

Finn stares at him and then at Rachel without opening his mouth and Rachel's face softens. "I'm sorry, David. I just-"

"You have to be patient," Finn finally speaks up. "You don't even imagine how many stuff I set on fire until I learned how to control it. I still feel bad for all the furniture and blankets my mom had to replace due the fires I started," he says, amused and Dave's eyes lit up.

He never really asked Finn about his story with his ability, and unlike others, Finn's mother knows about his gift. Suddenly, Dave's mind is filled with questions, and an excited grin forms in his face.

"Man, really? But how? I mean, your mother knew, right? What did she say about it?" Dave asks, sitting up straight in his mattress.

Finn smiles, like he has good memories about it. "She freaked at first, but then-"

"Boys, we're training. You can chat later when we're done with this; Finn we need Dave to concentrate," Rachel cuts them off. Finn nods apologetically, and Dave rolls his eyes, laying back in his bed.

"You're not fun, Rachel," Dave grumbles.

"This is not about having fun, David," Rachel tells him, sharply.

Dave rolls his eyes and closes them, going back to his focusing. Nothing happens though. For the following two hours, they remain in silence and Dave doesn't ever falls asleep just like he doesn't ever unblocks Rachel.

It's pretty discouraging. He has to admit they've been doing this for a little more three weeks, which is quite a short time so he can't really expect to be able to control his ability. Before these past three weeks, he didn't even know he had one.

But even Kurt, who's the worst at controlling his gift, can achieve to be with three people at the same time without going crazy. Maybe within four years, Dave will be able to unblock three people at the same time…

He's not focusing, since he's thinking about Kurt, but suddenly he finds himself wondering is Rachel can see the future if she reads Kurt's mind. It would be pretty interesting if she could; it would be like having two abilities at once.

"Time's up," Rachel finally announces, and Dave and Finn sigh relieved. "We'll continue tomorrow, alright, David? Don't let this dishearten you. You'll be able to doing it when you less expect it," she assures him, standing up and heading to the door.

Dave smiles at her, since he really appreciates her good spirit and overall her patience. If he was in Rachel's place, he wouldn't be so patient. He would have probably smacked himself once or twice by now.

He sits up straight in his bed, still wondering about her and Kurt.

"Do you ever read Kurt's mind?" Dave asks her, just when she was about to reach the door.

Finn looks at them both, still sitting at the table with the cartoon's magazine in his hands; Rachel turns around, showing a horrified face. "Oh, God, no. Never."

Dave frowns. "Why not?"

Rachel stares at him like he can't believe what he's saying, but the truth is that Dave has no clue about why reading Kurt's mind could be so bad.

She walks towards Dave's bed, sitting down with him. "Because it's like, horrible. Makes my head hurt."

Dave keeps on frowning, but he's quite curious now. "So you've tried."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Duh, of course!"

"But, did you get to see the future? That's how it would work, right? Your future is in his mind, so you get to read your own future," Dave says, assuming it's that way.

"That's exactly what I thought at first. But then I tried to," Rachel says, and shivers like she's remembering the experience. "Let's just say that Kurt's head is a mess."

Rachel really doesn't help Dave to grow even more curious. "What did you read?"

"Nothing? Everything? You can't really see it, David, but in reality, your ability is all over the place; that's why we're all cancelled when we're with you. But then when you train yourself and dominate it, you actually but your ability in order."

Dave nods slowly, not really understanding where she's trying to get.

"Just like Rachel, Kurt sees stuff in his head," Finn intercedes, obviously seeing that Dave doesn't get it. "Well, Rachel doesn't see stuff, she hears thoughts. Their abilities work in their minds, so an ability being all over the place means that Kurt's head is all over the place."

"Oh," it's all that Dave can say. "What did you hear then?"

"His thoughts and my future mixed up," she explains. "But it was confusing, too confusing; it gave me the worst headache ever. It was like, twenty people yelling at you at the same time which was interesting, since it was just him and me. Then I understood that, his thoughts and my future mixed together in that incredible messy way was actually all that was in Kurt's head. I could stop reading him, but he couldn't stop seeing all that stuff together, so I realized how badly he needed to get trained. If my head hurt just by reading his mind a few seconds, I can't even imagine how he managed to cope with himself having someone around."

He should stop asking stuff about Kurt, since every time he knows something new about the boy, he feels even worse for him. There's nothing he much he can do to help Kurt, so at the end of the day, he gets to feel bad for the kid and nothing else.

"But he's better now, right?"

Finn snorts. "Better? He's super fine! At first you couldn't even talk to him," he says, almost amused. "He couldn't hold a conversation since he was blurting out your future at the same time."

What?

"How come?"

"It was like, 'Hey, Kurt. How are you doing?' you asked him, and he would reply, 'I'm okay- Are you going to cook, Finn? Let me help you, you always burn everything,'" Finn snaps suddenly, startling Dave. "'Oh, Quinn, let me do it! I want lean!'" Finn's now whining now. "And then he would be back at being himself and continue, 'How's the weather outside?"

Dave only blinks. He doesn't really know how Kurt's in a regular day, since the two times he got to be with him, he was cancelling his ability so Kurt wasn't seeing any future.

"Finn, don't be an insensitive jerk!" Rachel tells him sternly.

"Hey, it's not bad to find some humor in sad things, alright?" Finn defends himself, and then his attention goes back to Dave. "But it was like that."

Woah, Dave wasn't expecting that, so he looks at Rachel, and Rachel shrugs apologetically, confirming Finn's words.

"Jesus," Dave breathes out.

"And if you let him continue, he got like really carried away, and he even stood up and moved around and acting all the conversations he was seeing in his head, like he was possessed by all the people that were in your future. It was insane," Finn tells him, almost amazed and Dave can't really think about that as something amazing.

Rachel shows a sympathetic smile. "He's much better than when he first joined us, that's for sure. It's hard for him but he learned how to focus," she says, giving him a stern glare. "His head is still a mess when there are people around though. He just learned to ignore it."

"You've seen it?"

"Yes, but just a few times. Just to see how was he handling it; the last time, I was with him, Santana and Sebastian. I got so dizzy I had to run out not to throw up in his trailer," Rachel replies, blushing and Finn laughs at her.

"That's what you get for being so nosy," Finn tells her and she glares at him.

"I really admire him," Rachel continues, ignoring Finn's remark. "It takes him quite a lot of effort to be able to follow a conversation while he's at the same time seeing a bunch of images of the future in his head, but now he does it, naturally. And it's not because he controls it, it's because he ignores it but it doesn't mean that the mess is still there. That's why he sleeps so much."

Dave sighs, really trying to figure out how he can help this kid. He can cancel him so…

"Why don't you put my trailer next to his? I'd be cancelling all time, and he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble every time you go to see him."

He sees Rachel and Finn exchanging a quick look. "He doesn't want that," Finn tells him.

Dave feels a little rejected. It's fine if Kurt doesn't like him, after all they hardly know each other. But in spite of Kurt's weirdness, Dave is somewhat fond of him unlike Kurt that seems not to like him.

"He doesn't have anything against you, man," Finn says, and Dave blinks trying to look like he doesn't really care since his displeasure at Kurt's rejection it showed a lot.

"It's really fine."

Rachel sighs. "He doesn't want to get used to you," she says quietly. "He says he can't rely on your ability to cope with his. He has to learn for himself, and you might not be around forever."

Dave groans, sick of it. "He's with that too? I'm not going to leave!"

"Also, it's because his visions strike him harder when you're not around," Rachel explains, making him frown.

"I'm never around him."

"You've been twice," Finn reminds him, and Dave doesn't think those times are a big deal, since the first time Kurt was a mess and they barely interact in a very awkward way, and the second time they didn't even speak to each other.

"So?"

"So when you left, or he left, once you stop cancelling the visions struck him harder than usual," Rachel tells him, and then she presses her lips together like she's thinking. "I don't know why yet, I think he gets used to you and forgets to put some resistance to the future, but I've been there and I saw him."

Dave stares at her, frowning. "What happened?"

Rachel shrugs, as if there was not a lot to explain but Dave is clueless so he wants to know. "It was like in the old times; the future wrapped him up, he couldn't get out from it. I had to do a lot of yelling and shaking to force him to step out of it."

Dave shouldn't ask any more stuff about Kurt; everything he gets to know is bad, Dave gets to feel really sorry for him and it's not like he can do much about it, so why should he bother?

"Can we go back to the camp?" Dave asks, changing the topic of conversation since it's pointless to keep on speaking about Kurt.

His friends nod, and Dave exhales relieved. He should stop talking about Kurt, since apparently they are not even meant to stick around; Kurt has his reasons to never want him around, so the chances of them getting to know each other, at least a little are narrow. Dave got to know that Kurt wasn't the last member joining the circus, so new people adapted and became friends with him. It seems that Dave won't have the same luck, and maybe that's good.

Scratch 'maybe'.

Dave is comfortable where he is; every day in the circus makes him feel more and more at home. He doesn't feel like he's the new one or the stranger anymore; he's one of the group, and he likes that. He has great friends, a great job and now he even has money in his pocket.

They head to the camp, just to catch their friends coming back from Atlantic City. They are all carrying lots of bags, looking excited. The whole circus crew ends up gathered in the middle of the camp, right where they have dinner and lunch together.

"I swear, Atlantic City is almost like a big city," Santana states, placing her shopping bags on the table. "Brittany! Brit! Look what I've got!"

Sebastian rolls his eyes. "We should do all boys, all girls sightseeing," he says, sitting at the table and taking a bunch of records out of his shopping bags and handing them to Sam and Noah, who look excited at their new music.

Santana starts showing Britt a brand new dress that she purchased, as Tina and Mercedes take out of their bags a couple of pairs of shoes. "Don't be annoying, Seb," Tina tells him, showing off her new shoes. "We didn't take that long."

Sebastian gapes at the girls. "You spent at least an hour trying out shoes! And by the way, San, Atlantic City is a big city."

Santana snorts. "It's not New York."

"New York is not that great," he muffles, and Dave remembers that Sebastian was born and raised in New York, so obviously for him it's not anything amazing.

Mike and Artie purchased clothes, and records as well, plus some board games and books to keep themselves entrained in the camp. They also bought different housing stuff, some blankets, tooth paste, combs, a couple of gas lanterns and flashlights. And of course, food.

Dave is pretty excited about going to Atlantic City tomorrow. His friends look excited, and they did some seriously nice shopping. While Mike tells them about an Ice Cream parlor they definitely have to go to, Dave sits down with his friends, taking a look to his surroundings.

This are going remarkably well for him; Dave has almost forgotten about all the troubles he had to face in the past. For the first time, things are going well, and even if that makes him smile, he sometimes wonders if this is just a big dream, or how long this is going to last.

Dave got quickly used to this sweet life, but he's aware that good things never last, at least not for him and he's not even used to get good things. This is too good. He doesn't want to be pessimistic, and the truth is that the circus has been travelling around the country for years, so there's no reason to believe that it will suddenly vanish. Dave is safe here.

Dave sighs, and smiles. Things are good, and hopefully they'll remain good.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"I swear, Kurt, it's been two weeks and Brittany keeps on calling herself The Great Brittany Pierce," Mercedes grumbles, as Kurt braids her hair. Kurt rolls his eyes; Santana chuckles. "That's my title; I am the Great Mercedes Jones."

"Well, my girl can breath under water for longer than you," Santana points out, opening her Milky Way and taking a bite of it. "With no funny tricks."

Kurt tries not to laugh in order not to upset Mercedes.

"Damn you, David Karofsky," Mercedes curses and Kurt finally laughs.

"Don't be mean, 'Cedes," he says, being done with both of his friend's braids. "There you go."

"_The sun is coming down; the chilly breeze of the late afternoon makes Mercedes shiver, but just slightly. They are in the open field, and two windmills in the far distance are moving in with the wind, but she pays no attention to them. Instead, she's laughing at Finn._

"_You're not going to be able to paint all that with that little paint, you know?" She points out, knowingly._

_The boy has just a small can of red paint in his hands, but he's determinate to renew his trailer by painting it all red._

"_But it's looking good so far, uh?" Finn asks her, looking proud of his work._

_And there are only some brushstrokes here and there, going in all different directions. It doesn't look good at all._

"_It really does," Mercedes lies, not having the heart to dishearten Finn. The boy looks instantly happy._

Kurt smiles at his vision, and looks up, finding his two girl-friends staring at him patiently. "I'm sorry, what?"

"How do I look?" Mercedes asks, waving her head to her sides, showing her two braids.

"I told you you were going to look like a country girl," Kurt states, taking a Milky Way bar for himself.

This afternoon is supposed to be about hair and candies, with Mercedes, Santana and Quinn, but Quinn hasn't arrived yet. Kurt is not going to let the girls do his hair, but he will do theirs and of course, eat candies.

Still, the girls have been in his trailer for only fifteen minutes and Kurt plans to change Mercedes' hairstyle later. It's not like the braids look bad on her; she even looks cute, but Kurt had in mind something more like a Bette Davis style for Mercedes. And besides, he's not going to let Mercedes walk out looking like she's about to milk a cow.

"Quinn is taking forever," Santana points out, looking at some pictures of Hollywood's stars, since she hasn't decided her look.

"Rachel wanted to talk with her about something for the show," Mercedes replies, dully. "You know that once she catches you, she never lets you go."

Kurt laughs, calmly still eating his chocolate. He's not particularly nervous at the prospect of sharing an afternoon with the three girls. Being in company of three people is something that Kurt can deal with, even if meetings like this one leave him completely exhausted.

Mercedes arrived first and with her, so did her future. Kurt stood tuned to her future.

When Santana showed up a few minutes later, the visions of her upcoming events tried to get inside his brain, but Kurt remained focused just in Mercedes' future, ignoring all the information he was getting from the Latina girl.

It was hard, but with time Kurt learned to handle it.

It has been Rachel's idea of course; she always comes up with a perfect system for everything. His training has been hard, since his visions were always all over the place, never stopping for a second.

At first, Kurt had to learn to stay focused in the present while being in company of one single person. That's something that Kurt tried to do before joining the circus when he lived alone with his father. But he trained constantly with Rachel and in the end, he learned how to control his ability a bit more.

Of course, when he checked the first step in Rachel's "To do List" regarding his ability, she wanted to add a new person around him. Kurt didn't even have the time to get used to the happiness he felt at being able to being in company of someone.

And adding a second person, was terrible. No matter how much he tried, Kurt couldn't handle the visions he got from two different people; it was just impossible to ignore everything. He had to do a huge effort to concentrate in ignoring two futures at the same time, and the effort was so huge that then there was nothing left to stay focused in the present. Kurt got to be able to ignore the visions from two different people, but that resulted in him being completely motionless, silent and unable to even listen to someone in order not to break his concentration.

It was simply too much.

His brain is never good at telling the difference between what's happening now and what's going to happen sometime later. His visions of the future are as real as the very present.

It's worse when there's more than one person with him. Everything gets mixed and it's like he has different realities in front of his eyes at the same time. Rachel noticed this. Rachel and William are the ones who know more about special abilities, but they could never really explain how these 'gifts' as William calls them, work in special people. They believed that in his case, his head seemed to process the visions from the future as if they were part of the present and also, that chasing after people's future was a function of his brain, just like it was hearing, seeing or anything.

If you have your eyes open, you can't just not see anything.

So Rachel decided if they couldn't teach Kurt's brain not to collect people's futures, maybe they didn't have to do that. Kurt might not have to ignore all the visions that were constantly poking his brain; she suggested to let some visions in and embrace them. It sounded weird to Kurt at first, but somehow it worked.

Kurt still remembers that morning that he could actually sit down with Rachel and Noah, the three of them together. It was strange but good because he didn't collapse; it was hard though. Unlike his first level of training, Kurt had then to stay focused in the present, while having constantly Rachel's future in his head at the same time he was ignoring Noah's.

But Kurt achieved it.

With time, Rachel added another person to the equation. Her major goal has been always to be able to insert Kurt into at least, their little society. According to her, as Kurt got to handle a new person around him, they could start adding more people. He should be dealing with one present, one future, and ignoring all the visions he could pick up from other people.

Rachel made it sound very simple, but Kurt was aware that that was never going to happen. He tried though, mostly to please her since she helped him so much… Kurt didn't want to let her down. Of course he dreamed about being able to be around his friends, all of them.

Yet, even if he was aware of how much he controlled his visions he knew that Rachel was being ridiculous.

He understood and still understands Rachel though; both of them have abilities that required mind control. But while she's able not to instantly read everybody's mind, but Kurt will never be able not to see everyone's futures.

Their abilities are slightly alike, but they have different backgrounds as well. Rachel trained herself, her gift blossomed in her life slowly and gradually. She actually had time to handle with it little by little while Kurt's gift –he actually calls it 'a curse'- didn't step in his life in such a kind way.

Kurt's ability frightened him.

Rachel is a person with big ambitions, and she's really good at training people but what she could never get to understand is that his training implied more than his concentration, or his ability to focus; there's also the fear.

Kurt was and is aware that his constant fears it's the biggest obstacle to reach all his goals. Of course, it's always been evident that he can get upset quite easily but still; it was easy for Rachel to assure Kurt that nothing wrong was going to happen if there was more people near him even if he could get lost in so many visions.

It had been scary enough to see two of his friends together near to him at first, and it was even scarier to see a three of them, right in front of him at the same time. They were his friends, the people who watched after him and still the mere sight of so many people it was terrifying.

Kurt has been through that; he knows what happens when several people came near him and he doesn't want to go through that again. He knows how scary it is not to be able to step out of his visions and to get lost into them. He was only a kid when his curse struck his life suddenly, in a hard and overwhelming way. He can still remember how confusing and scary it was for him when it started happening.

And then it got much worse.

The Asylum has been the worst and the darkest time of his life; the future of lots and lots mental patients became his present, and Kurt could never step out of that constant trance. He wouldn't eat or sleep for days, being stuck in the huge mess that the visions of dozens and dozens of patients provided him with. Thankfully, the doctors started drugging him to unconsciousness, of course. And those patients' futures were not only confusing due their poor mental state, but it they also were scary and painful. Kurt stopped being himself; he was all of them.

But the small victories that Kurt achieved over his so called 'gift' were something huge to Kurt and it made him feel powerful and better with himself. Kurt always considered he was a lost cause, and that he was going to remain completely alone, away from any kind of human contact for the rest of his life in order to have some peace in his mind, so his small yet huge progress proved different.

So feeling confident, Kurt let Rachel bring yet another person near him. In the end it's like watching two different realities: the one in front of his eyes, and the one that someone else was going to have within some hours, days or weeks. Plus, a slight buzzing from the two futures he's ignoring.

It was difficult at first to be able to stay focused in the present, having so many things in his head but Kurt achieved it. But that's his limit, even if Rachel wants to go for more. It's too exhausting for him to be with three different people. And he doesn't even want to think about the view; he almost faints more than once at the dominating panic when he saw all his friends together that day they shared lunch.

Kurt thought he was going to be alone forever, so to him, being now with Mercedes and Santana, it's amazing. Kurt couldn't be happier, and even if Rachel accuses him of settling, he doesn't mind. She doesn't understand how big this is for him. He's happy with what he's got; he could have nothing at all.

So Kurt smiles to himself as he watches Santana going through their movie stars photos, trying to pick a hair style. Mercedes joins her, sitting by her side and they quietly starts discussing what look would look the best on her.

In the quiet surrounding, Kurt's mind begins to drift until his present is blending with Mercedes' future once more.

"_Guys, I'm hungry," Mercedes says, letting herself drop at one of the chairs placed at the table were Sam, Quinn, Sebastian, Tina and Mike are sitting._

_It's just a typical day in the camp. Her friends coming and going, doing their own stuff. Everyone is there at her sight, but Kurt of course. They are supposed to have dinner right now. The sun is almost down; Al Bowly is singing in a faint distance so Mercedes guesses that someone is playing one of his records. She can see the annoyance in her friend's faces._

"_We're all hungry," Quinn states, gloomily. "We shouldn't let Rachel cook anymore."_

"_Hey, I heard that!" Rachel says, as she's walking by. She's annoyed of course. "And it's not my fault!"_

_Mike snorts. "You put sugar instead of salt in our last food ration! It's like the ABC of cooking. And it was out last meat until Marion!"_

_Rachel crosses her arms over her chest, fuming. "Well, we'll get more food soon, so don't act like you're going to starve to death."_

"Kurt, I think I want this look on me," Santana told Kurt, forcing him to step out from his small trance.

Kurt takes the picture, smiling at his sight; Ava Gardner is an amazing choice. And a challenge, since Santana's hair is incredibly flat so making Miss Gardner's curls is going to be interesting.

"This is going to look gorgeous on you," Kurt says, standing up and marching towards his door. It's still open, since they're waiting for Quinn but the weather is turning chilly.

He closes the door and goes to his bed, sitting down. He motions Santana to sit in the floor between his legs, and when she does so, Kurt takes a brush and starts brushing her hair.

"Have you ever had a crush on someone, Kurt?" Santana asks out of nowhere.

"What?"

Mercedes laughs, Kurt blushes furiously and Santana remains collected. It's not something new that Santana has no particular qualms when she wants to talk about her romantic and sexual life or other people's romantic and sexual life. It makes Kurt somewhat uncomfortable; most of the things he learned about romance and sex are thanks to the visions he has of his friends; there's always been couples in the circus, so of course that when Kurt sees his friend's futures, it's not unusual that he picks visions of their private moments with their girlfriends or boyfriends. He has also seen his friends having sex more than once, and he particularly hates those visions, since they make him beyond uncomfortable. He really doesn't need to see all that.

It's also not weird to talk with his friends about their relationships; after all they are his friends and they talk; it would be weird if Sam didn't mention Mercedes in his conversations, or if Brittany didn't talk about Santana. They don't even talk about Kurt, for obvious reasons.

What he could tell his friends about his romantic life? Nothing. Kurt doesn't even think about romance for himself. So he's not sure why Santana is asking him that.

"Have you ever-"

"I heard you the first time," Kurt cuts her off, keeping himself busy with Santana's hair. "Why do you ask that?"

Santana shrugs. "I was talking to Dave some time ago, about crushes and stuff-"

"Dave has a crush?" Mercedes intercedes, looking excited at the prospect of gossip. "Oh my, tell me more!"

"Why would you talk with David about me?" Kurt inquires, embarrassed. Did she talk with another person about his non-existing romantic life? He's uncomfortable about talking about this with Santana, and he's known the girl for years… it's definitely embarrassing that she was talking to someone else about this.

It also makes him feel like the biggest fool. All his friends have shared kisses, been in relationships, had sex, and Kurt hardly ever thinks about this for himself, not to say never since his mind is usually busy with people's future and when the future is not there, he's resting from the future that's been in his head. Or sewing.

But every now and then he realizes that he's the only one in this circus that has never been romantically involved with anyone, and there's a reason for that. Kurt is also the youngest member of the circus, and his friends do treat him like their younger little brother due his age –even if his friends are not much older- and his fragile mind. Yet, he still feels like a fool since one way or the other, he's the only 19 year old boy who has never held hands with anybody and who still has never been even kissed.

Santana sighs heavily. "Dave doesn't like anybody, Mercedes. Seriously woman, you and the gossip… It was when I was explaining to him about which one of us were in relationships, who had a crush on who… Finn and Rachel were on a break back then, he didn't realize there was something between them two, and then we were talking about this, and I started thinking about you. So no, I didn't talk to him about you, Kurt so please don't faint in embarrassment."

Kurt rolls his eyes, and continues brushing her hair. He catches Mercedes looking at him with curious eyes and he rolls his eyes again. "What, 'Cedes?"

She shrugs. "You didn't answer her."

Kurt starts growing tense. "What's to answer?"

"Well, it's a good question. I know that with your ability, it's not like you're able to go out to meet someone," she says and Kurt only stares at him. "But, what about before you've got your ability. Some classmate or someone?"

"I was just a kid," Kurt replies. "Last time I've been at school I was, I don't know, thirteen? Spent most of my fourteens in the asylum."

"We all had crushes on school," Santana states.

"_You'd better get the hell out of here," Noah grits between his teeth._

_The Dalton boys are standing right there in front of them; Sam keeps Mercedes behind him and she's doesn't like it. She wants to punch these guy's faces. All her friends have gathered up, facing the whole Dalton gang._

_Jesse snorts, sticking his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit. "C'mon, Puckerman. Where are your manners?"_

"_You have nothing to do in here," Rachel tells them with a stern tone of voice._

_Jesse lets out an icy laugh. "I think you know perfectly what we're doing here, Rachel," he says, tapping his temple with the tip of his fingers._

"_None of us is coming with you," Rachel speaks again, obviously reading these boys' intentions. Mercedes fidgets in her place; their plan doesn't surprise her, but it doesn't mean it doesn't make her nervous._

"_We always asked you politely to join us. You know you're always welcomed," one of the Dalton guys says, someone that Mercedes has seen before but she doesn't know his name and does not want to know it either. It's not the first time they run into these cretins._

_Finn snorts, folding his arms over his chest. "I think we told you already we don't want you around. So please, get your asses out of our camp."_

_Jesse does nothing but stare at all of them, silently. Then, Mercedes quickly notices the change in the Dalton boys' faces; while seconds ago they were carrying a cocky grimace, now they look threatening._

_Mercedes holds Sam by his arm, tightly. "Don't you worry, sugar," he whispers without turning around, since his eyes are fixed in what they could call their enemy. _

_She worries though, because if the Dalton gang wants to hurt them, the circus is outnumbered. Mercedes doesn't want to believe that they are going to hurt them. The idea it's ridiculous; their occasional interaction never goes beyond some bickering, in the worst of the cases._

_But then she sees the blue glow in Jesse's hands; it's been a very long time since she has seen that and Jesse is staring right at them. "We'll do it in the hard way then," Jesse concludes and Mercedes holds himself tighter onto Sam._

Kurt gasps and the brush falls out from his hand. The girls are instantly staring at him concerned, but his hand starts trembling at the dark future. He doesn't want the Dalton people again close to him. They need to prevent this…

"Kurt?"

He's jumps in his place as Mercedes breaks the silence, feeling scared, nervous and anxious. He looks up to see his friends, and they are both staring intensely. Santana has turned around, watching him closely. She gently holds his trembling hand, squeezing it.

"Easy, honey. What's going on? What did you see?"

_Santana disappears and appear constantly all over the camp; everyone is yelling and screaming and she doesn't know if it's her friends or the Dalton boys. There's fire; some of the trailers are burning down, the whole camp is upside down and everything is a mess. She's desperately trying to find Brittany but she keeps on running into someone in trouble. _

"_Santana!" she hears Mike calling her. He's struggling with two Dalton guys and she appears to his side, trying to push the away from him. "They're taking Rachel! Go help her!" _

_She throws a punch to one of the guys, and quickly tries to spot Rachel. She's unconscious on some guy's arms; the guy is running with her towards one of their fancy cars and she's about to appear right there when she sees Sam flying down in her direction. Sam is going to get her, so she turns around, trying to help someone else or to spot Brittany; she grows desperate, everyone seems involved into their own fights, she doesn't know who to ail first and he still can't find Brittany. Santana wipes the blood that's coming down from his head, covering her eyes and she sees a bright light coming from behind her that makes her turns around._

"_Oh, Lord! SAM!" She screams, in horror as she sees Sam falling down to the ground from the highest height._

Kurt's trembling so badly that he feels like he's almost having a seizure. He can't breathe; he tries to push those scary images out of his head, but he's so nervous that he can see before his eyes, the horrible future of Mercedes and Santana.

Sam is going to get really hurt if not dead; the Dalton boys are going to attack them. Really attack them. They'll take Rachel… they'll surely take him as well, and Kurt panics.

"Get out," Kurt breaths out, as he starts hyperventilating. He doesn't want to see any more of this. Mercedes and Santana give him a quizzical look. "Get-"

"_Brittany we have to go," Santana tells her desperately, holding her by her arms. She's crying; both of them are crying, and knelt down next to Lily's severely wounded body. The tiger is barely moving, and Santana doesn't want to leave Lily here, but they need to go._

"They hurt her," Kurt sobs, and Santana's tears become his. He wipes his tears away, the girls are getting closer to him but tells them again: "Get out!"

There are move visions coming right to his head and Kurt can't handle it anymore.

"Kurt, honey, please-"

_Mercedes runs erratically in the forest; Brittany and Mike are with her, but no one else is there. She's hurt, and she's crying anxiously and Brittany is also sobbing in the back. They hear footsteps behind them, so they run faster not knowing if they are his friend's or Dalton people's._

Kurt storms out his trailer, running from the threat that the Dalton gang don't really represent to him in the present.

"Kurt!" Santana and Mercedes call out, running after him.

He turns around, seeing them chasing after him. The sunlight frightens him, realizing he's running in the open but he needs to get away. The future is mixed with the present; he's running away like Mercedes does, and he's running away from his friends in order not to see any future anymore.

"Kurt? What are you doing?" Quinn's voice startles him; she close to his trailer and before he can prevent it, he falls to the ground.

"_Get off me, you pricks!" Quinn yells, throwing kicks and punches as three of the Dalton boys have her pinned down to the ground._

"_Oh, I don't think so, lady," one of this bastards say. "You know you're coming with us."_

"Leave me alone!" Kurt growls viciously, struggling with the boys that are not actually holding him to the ground. "I'm not coming with you!"

_Noah appears out of nowhere, and he knocks the three Dalton guys by giving one single punch to each of them. Quinn thanks to God for his super strength. He helps her to stand up._

"Run to the forest! I can't go, I need to see if the others- Quinn, listen to me, you need to leave. Run, now!" Kurt says loudly and desperately, already on his feet and starts running.

He can't see the open field in front of his eyes; instead, he's in running to the black forest, deep in the night. He turns around, and the camp it's practically destroyed; fire coming out of everywhere, people running from one place to the other, the trailers are trashed and he starts crying as he keeps on running.

But suddenly, the visions fade. The impact of the dark night turning into a bright day, startles him and he trips on the ground, falling hardly. Kurt sees his real surroundings clearly, having no visions before his eyes; he's in the middle of a prairie, the sun is shinning above his head and Kurt still runs. He turns around, and his friends are coming towards him.

He left his friends behind. They stepped out from the distance that his ability covers.

"Please! Stay away from me!" Kurt yells at them loudly, feeling the tears of Quinn's eyes rolling down his cheeks.

Mercedes, Santana and Quinn are far from him, so far that he can't see their future and Kurt wants to keep it that way. The girls stay still in their places, but some other of his friends start joining them, apparently alarmed. They must have heard him screaming.

"Kurt, let us help you!" Santana shouts at him, sounding worried. "Tell us!"

"I don't want you near me! Stay back!" he replies. He hates having to communicate with them by yelling, but they are very far from each other. "I want to be alone! Please, I beg you, just leave me alone!"

A bird flies over his head, chirping and Kurt jumps in his place. Oh, Lord he's in the open. He's so far from his trailer that he burst out in tears; plus the horrible thing he's seen, the horrible things that are going to happen… William needs to know this.

The air is chilly and Kurt doesn't know if he's trembling because he's feeling cold of because he's panicking. He pants, and his knees grow weak so he lets himself fall to the ground, closing his eyes and covering his ears with his hands.

He's in the open and someone might come near to him. Anything could happen to him while being there, without any walls around him at least to protect him from the horrible visual that the outside represents.

* * *

Dave is all by himself in his trailer, reading some books that Artie lent him a couple of days ago. His friends are rehearsing, so Dave can't go to the camp until someone tells him he's allowed to be back and it doesn't really bother him; he got used to this routine by now.

But he startles when he hears the girls screaming after him, and suddenly knocking the door of his trailer as if they were desperate.

"David! David, open the door!" he recognizes Rachel's voice.

"Karofsky, get your ass out of here now!"

And that's Santana. He quickly puts his book away, and hurries to the door, finding precisely, Rachel and Santana standing next to him with worried faces. Dave's already having the worst feeling.

"What happened?"

"Kurt, you have to go and get him," Rachel states, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the camp.

"Rach, the guys are rehear-"

"No one's rehearsing, Dave. No one's doing anything but freaking out over Kurt," Santana tells him, and he has never heard Santana sounding so distressed.

"Kurt? Is he alright?" he enquires, worried. It surely doesn't seem like he's alright.

Santana shrugs, anxiously. "He saw something; he was with us, we were in his trailer and he saw something bad."

Dave frowns; this can't be any good. "What did he see?"

"I don't know," she replies. "But something really bad. He ran away from us, from his trailer and he doesn't want anyone near him. He'll see our future if we get close to him, but he's in the open so you need to at least take him back to his trailer or he'll have a fit."

Dave is sure that whatever it was that Kurt saw, must have been really bad if it made him run towards an open field. He doesn't know Kurt much, not to say he doesn't Kurt at all, but he's aware of how much it frightens the boy to be in the open.

As they reach the camp, he notices that it's deserted but when they start hurrying towards Kurt's trailer, he finds that the whole circus crew but William is standing near by the boy's trailer looking at… Kurt, or so Dave assumes, since he can only see his friend's backs.

"He won't be able to see your future, David," Rachel tells him. "So you must go with him, alright?"

"Alright," he says, determined.

He's really concerned about Kurt even if they haven't seen each other in weeks. Dave also notices that it's the first time that his ability comes useful somehow. For the first time, he can do something for the circus he belongs to, other than helping to carry stuff around, cooking or doing the dishes.

So he speeds up along with the girls, until they reach their friends. They look all equally worried, and relieved to see him there. Dave looks at the place where his friends are staring at, and he can't really see Kurt anywhere.

"Where is he?" Dave asks, trying to find the boy somewhere.

"There," Sebastian tells him, pointing at some dark spot among the tall grass. "He was standing, but now I think he's sitting or something."

Finally Dave sees him. "Oh," it's the only thing he says, since he just sees a small dark spot in the middle of the green grass.

"Go get him, Dave," Finn says, with a gloomy voice.

Dave nods, and starts walking towards the boy, until he remembers something that makes him stop and turn around. All his friends stare at him quizzically. "You have to go back to the camp."

"What?" Noah inquires, probably speaking for all of them. "We can't just-"

"If Kurt sees you all here, he's going to get even worse. It won't matter if I cancel him, remember what happened the day he went to the circus tent, when he saw just a few of them in his trailer. Or during lunch?"

The worried faces of his friends fall, since they obviously realize that he's right.

"He's scared already, we don't want to make it worse," he continues, and they all nod.

"We'll send William as soon as he's back," Rachel tells him. "Take care of him, alright?"

Dave sighs, and resumes his march. He's a bit nervous; Kurt's always a big responsibility just because what he means to all his friends. Sometimes he wishes he knew Kurt a little better; after all, his friends speak of him very fondly, and they are constantly super concerned about him, so Dave assumes that there must be something about Kurt that makes everyone be devoted to him.

But Dave doesn't know Kurt that way; this is the third time they are going to breath the same air, all the times they've been together in the same place, Kurt was at his worst. Their friends don't get to see Kurt always at his worst though, and Dave doesn't have that privilege.

Dave also notices that he's been with the circus for almost two months, and the only time he and Kurt actually spoke to each other was the day they met, and Lord that was incredibly awkward. He has no idea how he's going to approach to Kurt; he has no clue how his friends interact with him.

He has no choice but to go and help Kurt, so Dave walks, and walks and boy, this kid really ran away. He looks around, seeing nothing but miles of open field and tall grass, some trees here and there, but there's nothing else around. It makes his somewhat anxious, that Kurt is so far away from everything, in the middle of nowhere, knowing how Kurt hates to be in the open.

He slows his pace when his eyes lie upon Kurt's figure; he doesn't want to startle him. He steps closer, and notices the dark bundle among the tall grass, and it's Kurt that happens to be knelt down, resting his elbows on the ground as well, almost making a ball of himself. His body is shaking slowly, and he's covering his ears with his hands, and he doesn't seem to listen to Dave stepping closer.

"Shit," Dave mutters under his breath.

He carefully approaches the boy, kneeling down as well. He's going to startle Kurt no matter what he does, but he still extends his arm slowly, poking Kurt's shoulder. As he predicted, Kurt jumps in his place.

"Stay away from- you," Kurt cuts his own yelling off, when he sees Dave.

Dave doesn't know Kurt very well, but he knows how gorgeous this boy is and every time Dave sees him again, he doesn't stop being breathtaking. It still pains him to see Kurt so upset: his hair is a mess, he has a runny nose and his eyes are red because of the tears that keep on rolling down his cheeks.

Kurt is as beautiful as the first time Dave saw him; tragically beautiful right now, but beautiful nonetheless. Yet, Kurt being gorgeous or not is the least of Dave's worries right now.

"Hey, everything's alright," Dave tries to assure him.

Kurt shakes his head, crying. "No," he sobs. "Nothing's alright. I'm so scared," he cries out, wiping the tears away from his eyes.

Dave swallows hard. "Come with me," he says, holding his hand out to Kurt. "I'll take you back to your trailer. I've sent the guys back to the camp, so you won't have to see them."

Kurt stares at Dave's hand with a glimpse of apprehension. "You stop it. I won't see it as long as I'm with you, right?"

"What thing?"

"The future." Dave shakes his head no, and suddenly Kurt almost throws himself at him, holding Dave's arms tightly. "I don't want to see it anymore," he breathes out.

Their faces are just a few inches away from each other, and the way that Kurt is almost begging for him to prevent him from the future is heart breaking. What the hell did Kurt saw? The closeness makes him nervous thought; there's almost no personal space between them.

Dave swallows hard, doing his best to think straight. It's been long since Dave has been with someone, and Kurt is gorgeous and they are in such a close distance… but Dave doesn't want to have anything with Kurt that way. Plus, Kurt is distressed and he has to comfort him.

"Come here," Dave says, getting on his feet and dragging Kurt on his feet as well.

Kurt keeps on shaking; he looks around desperately like he's expecting the very Death show up out of nowhere. Kurt throws his arms around Dave's waist, holding him so hard that Dave can't almost breathe.

_Damn._

Kurt is not making it any easier being so touchy. You don't really put your hands all over another person unless you're in bed with them. Kurt is obviously not thinking straight, plus he's scared so Dave busies himself in calming the boy down.

"Hey, easy," Dave tells him with a soothing voice. "Nothing's going to happen."

"I'm in the open and I might see the future," Kurt retorts, scared and anxious. "I'm going to die!"

"You're not going to die," Dave tells him softly.

"You don't know that."

"Let's do this: you cover your eyes, so you don't have to see the open," Dave offers him, trying to make this trip back to the trailer the least traumatizing he can for Kurt. "I'll lead you to the trailer."

"What if you go?" Kurt asks with pleading eyes, holding Dave even tighter. "It might come back. I don't want the future to come back."

Dave lets out a constricted breath. "I'm not going anywhere."

Kurt shakes his head. "We don't know that."

"I'm not leaving you. I'm here to take you back to your trailer," Dave tells him firmly, since… does this kid really believe Dave is going to take off leaving him like this?

"Maybe you won't. But what if… you vanish, or disappear or something? Or of suddenly I step out from your cancelling zone? Or if someone gets close to us and we don't notice or-"

"Alright, alright," Dave cuts him off, because clearly Kurt is way too upset to even make sense, since Dave can't just vanish like Santana, and he has to walk a pretty big distance in order to stop cancelling Kurt. "We'll do this," he says, throwing his arm around Kurt's shoulders and with the same hand, he covers Kurt's eyes. "We'll walk slowly. You're holding me, I'm holding you, so you know I'm here and you won't see any future, or the open."

"Just don't go," Kurt pleads, whispering.

"I won't," Dave concludes and slowly, they start walking towards Kurt's trailer.

He makes sure that Kurt doesn't trip with anything, and he comforts him as much as he can, every time a bird flies by doing some noise that makes Kurt jump and brace himself against Dave even tighter if that's possible.

Dave's glad when he notices that his friends did get back to the camp, because Kurt is so disturbed that the last thing they need is stressing Kurt the more, because of the sight of a crowd welcoming to his trailer.

"We're here," Dave announces when they finally reach their destination. Dave uncovers Kurt's eyes, and he blinks repeatedly, letting a shaky breath as he sees his trailer.

"Will you stay with me?" Kurt asks him, looking incredibly small.

Dave swallows hard, but he nods. He can't really leave Kurt alone, but… the last time they were left alone it resulted into a very awkward situation and this is awkward so far; Kurt's hands are constantly over him and they are almost strangers to each other. You just don't do that stuff with stranger since it's quite inappropriate. Still, probably the last thing that's going through Kurt's mind is social manners, so Dave does his best to be understanding. Kurt releases himself from Dave, but he continues holding him by his arm. Apparently, Kurt still believes that he's going to disappear into thin air.

When they get inside the trailer, Kurt starts panting again, but there's a nervous smile on his face. Dave leads him towards his bed where Kurt lies down, curling himself onto a fetal position, still holding Dave's arm so Dave's forced to sit in the bed with him.

Kurt's body seems to release his tension, while his hand doesn't stop clutching Dave.

"You're safe now."

He's sure that he pushed the wrong button because suddenly, Kurt lets out a strangled sob. "No, I'm not. The future… oh, God. The future…"

This has to be something really bad, and Dave is of course worried because a terrible future for some of his friends, it's actually going to affect all of them. Dave realizes that gradually, he started seeing his friends as his family, and if Kurt saw something bad happening to some of the girls, Dave can't feel anything but concern.

"What happened? I mean, what's going to happen?"

Kurt sighs. "I don't really want to think about it, or talk about. I have to tell William, to warn him," he says, desperate now, sitting up straight in his bed. "William needs to know so-"

"He's coming later," Dave cuts him off, since William is not in the camp. "He went to the racecourse; he's going to win today, remember?"

Kurt stares at him, and then nods. "Oh."

"Maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it with someone. I'm here now."

"I don't want to scare anyone. We can prevent this from happening; we can always prevent bad things from happening and this cannot happen," Kurt states, firmly but with a shaky voice.

"Tell me. Please, Kurt."

"Can you promise you won't tell the others?" Kurt enquires as a tear rolls down his cheek. "I don't want to scare them, or worry them."

Dave gives him an apologetic smile. "They are worried already."

"About me, David. But God, if they-"

"I won't say anything. Promise."

Kurt exhales loudly and nods. "It was nothing at first. They were in the camp, next to some farm or something… there were two windmills not very far from where we camped, also a forest close to us. The windmills looked pretty," he says, quietly almost smiling. "I've never seen windmills before."

"Me neither," Dave humors him, not really understanding why Kurt is even telling him this.

It's actually the first time ever that they are really talking and as weird as it is and feels, Dave wants to know what's going to happen to his friends.

"Finn was painting his trailer in red, but Mercedes was laughing because he didn't have enough paint. It really looked awful," Kurt laughs, and hiccups. "Sorry. His trailer was looking awful, but Mercedes didn't tell him so."

Dave is not sure why this is relevant, but he doesn't really want to interrupt Kurt after finally getting him to talk.

"Then the guys were hungry," Kurt continues, with his eyes fixed on Dave so intently that a shiver runs down to his spine. "Rachel ruined the food; she mixed sugar with salt and she ruined the last meat they had to cook. They were listening to Al Bowly; someone of you had gone to the town to buy more food, I think it was William. But then..."

Kurt's face suddenly darkens and he chokes a sob. Dave holds his hand tightly. "It's alright."

Kurt shakes his head no. "They were here," he whispers, with terrified eyes.

"Who?" Dave asks, frowning.

"The Dalton boys," Kurt says quietly, and Dave is about to ask who the hell are the Dalton boys since he never heard of them before, but Kurt continues. "The guys were facing them, telling them to go away, but they wouldn't listen. Jesse was with them, and said that if we didn't want to join them in the good way, we'd do it in the hard way."

Dave is completely puzzled. Is Kurt talking about some other circus? These Dalton guys obviously know about people with special abilities, so it might be either the same circus that the Blaine guy joined or another one. And who's Jesse?

Dave's train of thoughts breaks when he notices that Kurt is shaking badly. "Kurt? Kurt, please, talk to me," he says, worried and rubbing his other hand over Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt breaks into tears. "They attacked us," he cries out.

Dave stares at him, dumbfound. "What?"

Kurt is crying hard now. "Th-they attacked us. Th-they were t-ta-taking R-Rachel," he stutters, nervously and Dave shushes him.

"Hey, slow down. Take a deep breath," Dave tells him softly, because the kid is going to hyperventilate soon.

Dave does it himself, making Kurt copy him and after a few deep breathes, Kurt sighs. Tears are still coming down from his eyes, but at least he can speak.

"They were taking Rachel. She was unconscious and the Dalton boys were getting her in one of their cars, and Sam was flying to rescue her," Kurt sobs loudly now. "But someone hit him while he was in the air, and he fell. David, they hurt him!" Kurt tells him, desperate, holding himself to Dave with both hands and Dave's blood turns cold. "He was so high in the air and they made him fall. What if he dies? He at least will get severely hurt and I can't-"

"Easy, Kurt," Dave tells him reassuringly even if he's feeling scared as well.

Someone's going to make Sam fall from a high place in the air, and Kurt is right: if that happens, Sam could break his neck or all the bones of his body. This is definitely something really bad; the last thing Dave wants is seeing his friends getting hurt.

But Dave doesn't want to look scared, since he's supposed to help Kurt to calm down.

"Then Santana found Brittany. They were… Lily was dying," Kurt sobs out, shaking and Dave's stomach flips.

Kurt has _seen_ these stuff that are making Dave feel so bad, so he understands why the kid is so upset.

"But everything was a mess. The camp was on fire, trailers were destroyed and everyone was fighting someone, trying to escape from them, David. It looked like a war zone," Kurt tells him, as desperate as he was seconds before. "But they were so many, and it seemed that we couldn't… They had to run. Mercedes, Mike and Brittany were running into the forest, trying to escape. They were crying and they were so scared, David."

Dave wraps his arm around Kurt, bringing him closer. Kurt rests his head on Dave's shoulder, and Dave notices that Kurt is still clutching his arm. Seems that Kurt still believes that Dave is going to disappear.

"They tried to take Quinn," Kurt breaks the silence, sounding resigned. "Noah helped her to escape, he's super strong so he easily got rid of those guys that were dragging her to their cars and told her to run to the forest. She didn't want to leave the rest of the guys, but Noah made her and she ran away, alone in the dark forest."

Dave really wants to know who these Dalton boys are, but he doesn't think it's wise to ask Kurt as he's in such a wretched state. But it scares him and it makes him angry that there are people out there that want to hurt his friends.

"But we can prevent it, right?" Dave asks him, trying to cheer up Kurt a little. "Now that you know what's going to happen, we can be prepared."

"We cannot fight against them," Kurt tells him, sounding dead serious. "At least not in that future, they were stronger than us. They were too many."

Dave frowns as he realizes that if Sam could fly, and Noah had super strength it's because Dave wasn't there that night. Where the hell is he going to be? He quickly resolves that he's never going to leave the camp. It sounded like it was a fight between people with abilities, but if he's there, they were just regular human beings all of them. So if these Dalton guys have stronger abilities than him or his friends, they won't be able to use them against them.

There's a knock in the door and Kurt jumps violently in his bed, panting and once again, staring at the door as if it was the very Death. Kurt's hands are clutching Dave's arm almost painfully, but Dave ignores it, hurrying to calm Kurt down.

"It's just the door," Dave tells him with a sooth voice. "It must be William."

Kurt is still panting heavily. "His future. His future, David, I don't want to see it," he tells him terrified, still with his eyes fixed to the door.

Dave turns to face Kurt, and holds tightly Kurt's chin with his hand, trying to make his eyes meet but the kid is still staring at the door, completely scared. "Kurt, Kurt!" he calls louder, forcing the boy to look at him. "It's just William. You need to tell him this, right?" Dave asks him, and Kurt nods. "And I'm here, I'm not going anywhere so you won't have to see his future."

"Alright," Kurt mutters.

Dave gets on his feet in order to let William in, and Kurt quickly gets on his feet as well, not letting Dave's arm go. Dave stares at Kurt's hands, holding his arm and then he looks up at Kurt, who doesn't notice his weird behavior. Kurt just stares at him, as if he's waiting for him to move.

Dave sighs and walks towards the door, with Kurt very attached to him.

They find William outside, and Kurt lets out a relieved sigh when he sees the older man, probably noticing that he's future free. William looks instantly worried as he sees them both.

"Kurt? What happened? Jesus, are you alright?" William asks, as Dave and Kurt motion him to get inside.

The three of them move to Kurt's table where they sit down; Kurt never releases Dave. William doesn't say anything at first.

"You want us to talk alone, Kurt?" William asks politely, probably remembering how Kurt wanted to talk with William in private, the afternoon they met.

Kurt looks up to William with nothing but fear, digging his nails into Dave's arm and Dave winces in pain.

"No," Kurt states, firmly. "He stays right here. You're not going to leave, right?" Now Kurt asks him, with distressed eyes. "Please, don't go. I beg you I-"

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Dave reassures him for the tenth time in the last hour. "Kurt has seen a pretty dark future," he tells William, so they can start with this already.

William's gaze is fixed on Kurt, who looks down to his lap. "Kurt?"

"The Dalton boys," Kurt says, making William frown.

"What about them?" William enquires, and Dave doesn't understand this interaction. Aren't the Dalton boys some seriously dangerous circus?

"They'll attack us, William," Kurt tells him. He sounds tired and defeated. "It's going to be horrible."

William stares at him, completely dumbfound. "What? They wouldn't-"

"They wouldn't?" Kurt asks, with his voice fill of venom. "They are not getting any friendlier, aren't they?"

Dave definitely has no clue about what the hell is going on in here, but he doesn't step into this conversation.

William sighs, scratching the back of his head. "I know, Kurt. I know but this-"

"They _will_ attack us. They'll hurt Sam pretty badly, if not kill him," Kurt cuts him off, with his voice filled with rage. "Lily is going to get killed and they'll take Rachel, and probably they'll take me as well, since they won't give any of you the chance to look after me and God knows I can't defend myself. I've seen it! And I've got that just from Mercedes and Santana, so I don't even want to know what will happen to the rest of us."

The older man now swallows hard, suddenly going very pale. William blinks repeatedly, his mouth opens and closes but he says nothing at first. Obviously, the man is having a lot of things in his head.

"We can prevent this, right?" Dave steps into the conversation, catching William's attention.

"Nothing bad is going to happen, alright? I won't let any of you get hurt," William assures him, and for the first time since he joined the circus, Dave doesn't fully believe in William's word.

Not because he doesn't trust the older man but because what Kurt saw was pretty scary and from what Dave gathers, Kurt is always right about the future.

"What are we going to do? I don't know where it will happen, or when," Kurt tells him, sounding defeated. "But we could just stay here. It's not going to be here."

William sighs. "Kurt, we can't stay here for the next two months. We don't know when this is going to happen, and maybe we could afford to stay in one the same place for two weeks, but your visions… you've gotten stronger. You've seen stuff that took a month to become real."

Kurt groans, frustrated. "It was only once!"

"But we don't know that!"

"It was after being with David for long. This time, it wasn't that way," Kurt argues and once again, David doesn't know what's going on. "We don't even know if that's going to happen every time I stay with David for long."

William sighs again, looking worried and that makes Dave nervous. "I have to think about this. Was… was I there? What did I do? What was I doing when this happened?"

Kurt frowns, like he's thinking hard. "No. I never saw you there."

William nods, quietly. "Alright. I need to figure this out. I can't let you getting hurt; you're my kids. But I have to find out how, because if we change our itinerary, maybe it's part of the future and we'll head right to where this is going to happen. We can't stay here for long; I won money in the races but we won't be able to support ourselves for longer than a week, and this could even happen tomorrow."

Dave starts growing nervous since it seems that they don't have many options. Kurt looks like he's about to cry again.

"So… what do we do?" Dave enquires.

"I'll try to contact them. I have some contacts, at least to see if I can… reason with them," he says, and Kurt snorts.

"Reason with them? They might kill Sam! And take Rachel! And kill Lily!"

Dave doesn't understand a thing. So William can contact them? Both circuses know the other?

"I need to know what they are up to."

"They are up to attacking us!" Kurt snaps at William.

William quirks an eyebrow, but says nothing. "I know you're upset, Kurt. This worries me as well, but I promise to you, that I won't let anything bad happen to any you. But the fact I wasn't there, it explains a lot I believe. You're all a bunch of kids, so are the Dalton boys, so I wouldn't be surprised that this wasn't supposed to get out of control."

Kurt gapes at him and Dave just stares at them both. "You can't seriously believe that."

The older man snorts. "No? With Finn and Noah? And Lord, Santana? And you don't know the Dalton boys, but you know Jesse, at least and you know how he is."

Kurt doesn't look like he's buying any of this; his mouth is hanging open, almost in disbelief. "William…"

"Nothing ever went out of control, Kurt."

"It almost did the last time," Kurt retorts, his voice small.

"But I was there to put some order," William states, but he doesn't sound very convinced.

Neither of them say anything else. Dave doesn't want to take sides, and he shouldn't side with Kurt, since it's the boy is the most unbalanced kid ever… but for some reason, Dave doesn't think that they'll be able to talk with these people. Dave believes that the future that Kurt saw won't be preventing by talking to these guys.

"What do we tell the others? They are dead worried about him," Dave asks and Kurt instantly looks up.

"They cannot know," Kurt hurries to say. "If Mercedes finds out about Sam, or Brittany about Lily… Lord, not just them, but everyone! I don't want to upset everyone."

Dave frowns to himself. There's something he's learned during his life in the circus and that's that secrets are never good. He understands where Kurt's coming from; Dave himself is worried and scared about their future, and Kurt's pretty accurate with his visions so he's not sure how he'd react if Kurt told him that he saw him dying.

He can't imagine how Sam would react at these news, or Mercedes or the rest of his friends. Or how scared would Brittany feel at the prospect of Lily dying. Or how all of them would feel if they know what's apparently going to happen to all of them.

Yet, if Dave knew he's meant to die, he could do something to prevent it. He could prepare himself, so the future won't hit him off his guard.

"I don't want to widespread fear either," William says, sounding unsure. "But they know something's wrong, Kurt. They are not stupid. They told me you literally ran out onto the open field."

"Then don't tell them anything," Kurt resolves. "Tell them I didn't say a word. That I'm upset, I didn't want to talk. It's not like they wouldn't believe I'm such a mess; it wouldn't be the first time."

"Hey," William says. "Don't say that."

"It's the truth. Tell them that," Kurt insists. "They should know eventually, and it's going to be soon because they need to be prepared and we don't have too much time. But try to figure out something first, so it won't be just… uncontrolled panic."

William nods.

"But William," Kurt tells him, fixing his eyes onto the other man's. "Think about something else than talking them out of this. What I saw, it really didn't look like it was just a bunch of guys being mean because there wasn't someone around to preach them."

William says nothing; the guy looks pretty shaken up but he says nothing. Then he stands up. "I should go to the camp. The kids are worried," he says, gloomily. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to sleep," Kurt speaks softly, with his head bowed.

"David, why don't we-"

"Can you go first?" Kurt cuts him off, once again holding himself tighter to Dave's arm. "I don't want to see anything. I don't want to take the risk; maybe you fall a little behind David, and I really don't want to see your future. Even less now; you've been here with me for long and the future will hit me harder," he tells Dave now.

William nods. "I'll do that. You have some rest, alright? You need it," he says, and kisses Kurt on the top of his head. "And thank you, David."

William walks out, leaving Dave and Kurt of them alone. "Are you alright?"

Kurt is blankly staring at the place where William was standing. "I'm scared. This is not going to get better if William wants to _talk_ with these people."

For some reason, Dave feels the same way but he won't say it in order not to upset Kurt the more. "Why don't you lie down?"

Kurt nods, and then he looks up at Dave, biting his lower lip. "Can I ask you something? I don't want to bother you anymore but-"

"You don't bother me," Dave tells him. Being with Kurt does make Dave incredibly uncomfortable since the kid is beyond weird, but Dave can't blame him for that.

Kurt was right about himself: he's a mess. Dave is not used to this, but if he can do anything for Kurt so he won't be such a mess…

"Can you move your trailer close to mine?" Kurt enquires quietly, and looking away like he's ashamed of this. "I don't want to see anyone again, let alone their futures. Not now, not knowing this."

Dave doesn't know what to say. He has thought about this in the past, but Kurt himself didn't want this. Yet, he's not so sure about this now.

"I can do that," Dave replies hesitantly. "But… how come you don't want to see anyone again? Kurt, they are your friends. Isolating yourself won't help you."

Kurt presses his lips together, and Dave knows he's trying not to cry. "It's just until this passes. It won't be for longer than two weeks, no matter what William says."

Dave worries even more now. "Kurt-"

"It's fine if you don't want to do it," the boy cuts him off.

"It's not that, it's just… they worry about you. Don't you think they'll grow even more concerned if you don't want to see them anymore? After what happened today?"

Kurt nods, his face shows nothing but despair. "I know. But they won't know what I saw, David. They will want to know what's going on, or what's bothering me and I can't deal with that. How can I face Sam or Brittany? Or Rachel? Or Mercedes, knowing that her boyfriend might die at some point within the next two weeks? And I can't really tell them that I don't want to see them exclusively or they'll grow even more suspicious and worried."

Dave understands; the kid has a point and he wonders how he's going to face Sam for example, without imagining him constantly falling to the ground and breaking his neck. And Dave's a sane person; Kurt can't even walk two steps from his trailer without fearing the world outside.

"I'll tell the others. I'll bring your food and everything," Dave concludes, standing up, leading Kurt towards his bed.

Kurt lays down, and Dave covers him with a blanket he finds at the end of his bed. Kurt is still holding him, not letting him go. "It will be just for two weeks, or even less," Kurt assures him tiredly. "I'm really sorry about all this."

The boy closes his eyes, and Dave sits on the floor next to the bed, since he won't be able to leave until Kurt falls asleep and stops gripping his arm. "Don't be sorry," Dave mutters, not wanting to disturb Kurt who's slowly closing his eyes.

"And David?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Dave nods, watching Kurt fall asleep. He sighs, and tries to think about what he's going to do next. The guys are going to flip out when he tells them that Kurt won't be seeing anyone, and that from now, he's going to be in charge of his food. He knows what Kurt saw, and he's not sure how he'll manage to function. Kurt can isolate himself, but Dave will be with his friends, knowing what the future might have in store for them.

Everyone's lives are in jeopardy. Dave feels his stomach flip, just by thinking at the prospect of the circus getting destroyed, or his friends being taken away. They are his family and this is his home.

There are people who are threatening his life and his friend's lives and Dave doesn't even know how to fix that.

These are going to be the worst two weeks of his life. Or maybe even less. The uncertainty hits Dave, and his heartbeat grows faster. Kurt doesn't usually see the future that is beyond two weeks, but two weeks are not a deadline. These Dalton boys could show up tomorrow, or the following day, not giving them time enough to prepare themselves.

Dave looks at Kurt, who seems now fast asleep. He quickly removes his arm from Kurt's faint grip, and the boy doesn't even flinch.

He sighs, and the only thing Dave can think about is that they are all in deep troubles.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: **I'm sorry for the delay of this. It has a beta now, so updates might take a bit longer than before, but hopefully in exchange you'll be able to read chapters with better grammar.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Ever since Dave joined the circus, he's been nothing but content. There was always a relaxed and chilled mood in the air and everyone was always smiling and enjoying themselves. Of course, there were some fights among the circus members but it's never anything serious, since the fights are usually about who does the dishes tonight, who's wearing what for the shows, and other stuff that are never really important.

Dave thought it was going to be weird at first, to live and to travel around the country with a bunch of guys that had incredible abilities; he thought that being part of a traveling circus was going to be weird. After all, it's not what you could call a 'normal' life.

It wasn't weird though; Dave loved every single minute of it.

As a result, the incredible tension that now fell upon the circus was almost unbearable. Dave had seen it coming, but he hadn't expected it to affect him so badly.

It had been only yesterday that his friends witnessed a very distressed Kurt seeing a terrible future. No one but Kurt, William and himself know about what the future has in store for all of them, and Dave finds it hard to keep such a secret. It's simply too much pressure.

Just as he predicted, Kurt's request about not wanting to see his friends was not welcomed in the slightest. They also found it particularly suspicious that after his 'meeting' with Kurt and William, Dave moved his trailer next to Kurt's.

Dave shifts in his bed. It's early in the morning and his anxiety about the current present and the possible future kept him awake the entire night. There's a big burden on his shoulders, and he's the only one carrying it, the only one watching after Kurt, and he knows that bad things could happen to his dearest friends and his beloved circus.

Dave doesn't want to get up. It's incredibly uncomfortable having to face his friends, knowing what he knows and not being able to tell them anything; after Kurt's episode –his friends kept calling it that way - Dave can constantly feel his friends' gazes on him.

It's not only the information that Dave has to keep to himself; it's also being torn between Kurt and William, and the rest of the circus crew. His friends seem to suspect that Dave knows more than he's willing to say and while he wants to tell them everything, Kurt and William have asked him not to say a word, at least for now.

He sighs, and gets up anyway to get dressed because today they have to hit the road for a show tomorrow in Ashland.

Dave leaves his trailer, heading right to Kurt's. He's worried about Kurt as well; after he left the boy sleeping in his trailer, Dave had returned later with his dinner just to find Kurt sleeping, still in his same clothes and under the blanket that Dave covered him with. Dave had tried to wake him up, but Kurt was deeply asleep, so he'd left, leaving Kurt's dinner there in case he woke up later feeling hungry.

At some point, Dave was expecting to maybe interact with Kurt in a more normal way, since his friends do spend time with Kurt, either when they were eating together or just hanging out. It made Dave somewhat anxious to share a meal with Kurt, but in the end, they shared nothing.

Their trailers are now right next to each other; no one is allowed near to them, even more so when Dave's not around. So Dave quickly finds Kurt's door and knocks it a few times.

There's no answer.

Dave knocks at Kurt's door again, and since once again he receives no answer, Dave ventures inside, since he has to check on Kurt. No one will if he doesn't after Kurt's special request. He quietly steps in, and there's silence inside.

He lets out a defeated sigh when he finds Kurt sleeping in his bed. It really seems that sleeping is all what Kurt does. Yet, Dave notices that Kurt changed his clothes and now he's under the covers of his bed, unlike yesterday night.

"Kurt?" Dave calls him softly. Kurt only stirs in his sleep, but doesn't wake up.

Dave rolls his eyes, and he's about to turn around when his eyes lay upon Kurt's table and finds that the plates with food that Dave has left yesterday are empty on the tray. It's obvious now that Kurt did wake up when Dave wasn't around, ate by himself, changed his clothes and returned to bed.

He picks up the tray and leaves. He's closing Kurt's door when Sam's voice startles him.

"Morning, Dave."

Dave's heart beat picks up. "Sam, what are you doing here?" God, if Kurt sees him… it's really hard for Dave to see Sam and not imagining him falling to the ground while flying and breaking his neck. It's hard to stare at Sam without wondering if they are going to be able to prevent his –possible- death, or without hugging him and hope for the best.

And that's him. Kurt will obviously react worse at seeing Sam.

"Hey, someone's gotta pick you up to go to the camp anyway, right?" Sam tells him with a smile, but Dave catches him not so subtly gazing at Kurt's trailer every now and then, looking worried and even longing.

It pains Dave to see his friends so worried and puzzled about Kurt and not even being able to know what's going on, or to check on him. Sam is not the only one who's been gazing at Kurt's trailer; after Kurt's episode, Dave had spent the rest of the day at the camp and he'd caught all of his friends every now and then stopping whatever they were doing to stare at Kurt's trailer in the same way than Sam is staring at it now.

"I guess," Dave says, since Sam is right. "Let's go. Kurt's sleeping anyways."

They head to the camp, and Sam looks like he wants to say something but he doesn't. In the camp, everyone is setting the table for breakfast and Dave decides to stay with them. "Can I have breakfast with you guys?"

Noah, Tina and Sebastian look up at him, frowning. "Why do you ask for permission? Of course you can," Sebastian tells him.

Dave shrugs. "I don't know. It just came out that way."

His friends are coming and going, but the tension can still be cut with a knife and it depresses Dave. They all look at Dave, trying to pass unnoticed but Dave catches all the glances.

"Kurt was sleeping," he announces, and everyone looks at him properly now. "He was sleeping yesterday as well. I haven't seen him awake since we talked to William. He ate dinner though," he says, pointing at the empty tray. "But not with me, since as I said, he was sleeping when I arrived with dinner yesterday night."

They all nod, not looking any happier and how could they? Dave is not telling them anything great or comforting. His friends place breakfast on the table, and they all sit around Dave; they are all have these gloomy faces and Dave wants just to tell them everything. Dave still has plenty questions like who these Dalton people are, and he hasn't been able to William so far.

"Where's William?"

Finn shrugs. "He went downtown, so we're hitting the road later. He said he had to make some phone calls."

Dave nods, trying to look casual. Kurt said that these Dalton people were not going to attack them here, so knowing this, William probably left them alone since they were safe in the camp. William did say yesterday he was going to try to find out what these people were up to, so he probably went downtown to do so.

"I just don't get it," Tina breaks the silence. "What did he see?"

"Something awful, that's for sure," Santana intercedes, sipping on her coffee. They all look at each other worried.

"Did he say anything to you?" Quinn asks him.

Dave swallows hard. "He just sleeps," he says, telling a half-lie.

"He does that when he's upset," Rachel tells him.

"What? Sleeping?"

They all nod. "It's not the first time he's closed himself off from us," Rachel continues and Noah snorts, clearly not welcoming Rachel's comment.

"Not after a vision," Noah tells her, sounding slightly irritated. "This is weird, alright? There's something going on, and Kurt's there going nuts and we can't do anything about it. Plus, there's something going on with the future, and if he doesn't want to see us anymore it's because it's bad, so don't compare this to what happened before, Rachel."

"No need to attack me, Noah!" Rachel snaps at him.

"Guys, please," Finn tries to prevent a fight.

"What happened before?" Dave can't help asking, and at least helps to distract his friends from this argument.

"It didn't have to do with his visions," Noah grumbles, like it's obvious but Dave wouldn't be able to know that.

Mike sighs, grabbing a toast; then he looks at it like he's suddenly lost his appetite and puts it back in the plate. "The first time was long ago, when he first joined us. Rachel trained him, and he could be accompanied by one person, but when they were training for two people, he got way too distressed and knocked himself out with chloroform. He just used too much."

Dave blinks, not really getting it. "And?"

Rachel stares at him, looking almost guilty. "We couldn't wake him up, so we were forced to take him to a hospital. You can only guess how it was for him to wake up over there."

Dave's stomach flips; he actually can imagine that. "Oh, God."

"The doctor told William that Kurt overdosed, and that when we learned about how much he could use. But Kurt woke up in a hospital, already crazy," Finn continues, with an attitude a little more carefree, as usual. Dave has to admit that Finn not being always so damn solemn and serious about Kurt helps him to ease the tension. "And thanks to William's persuasion we took him out as soon as he woke up. But the trip back to the camp was terrible, and when he finally was left alone, he obviously didn't want anyone around; slept all time and only ate when he was alone, leaving the empty plates for us since he didn't even want us to stay with him to share breakfast or something. He stayed that way for almost two weeks, so go figure."

"So he's doing this on purpose?" Dave enquires, feeling slightly like hell. Kurt is shutting him out? "He was sleeping yesterday when I left dinner for him; now he's asleep and he did have dinner. I'll probably find him sleeping when I take breakfast to him; I thought we were going to eat together."

"Not to be a bitch, but don't count on it," Santana tells him, and Dave rolls his eyes. Kurt is a really difficult person, even if it's not his fault.

"But the other time…" Rachel starts. The others shoot her looks that reek of suspicion, and she practically clamps her mouth shut in her haste. Dave grows quickly curious.

"What happened?"

"Erm.. nothing," Mercedes says.

Dave snorts and notices that for the first time in the morning, most of his friend's gazes - instead of being fixed on him - are fixed on Sebastian. "You know I'm not buying that, right?"

Sebastian chuckles, but his eyes are deadly serious. "There are these people… who _want_ Kurt," he says, making Dave frown. "Well, not just him, but they have a special interest in him." He pauses, steeling himself before continuing quietly, "One night, not long ago, they sneaked into our camp and tried to kidnap him while we were sleeping."

Dave's blood turns cold; is it possible that…? Kurt told William that these Dalton people were not getting any friendlier, so that means that they have done something bad before. Kurt said that these people wanted to have them. Is it possible that they are talking about the same circus?

"The Dalton guys?" Dave asks quietly and suddenly there are twelve pairs of eyes looking straight at him. Dave knows right away that he just fucked everything up.

"Where did you hear that name?" Mercedes questions him.

Yep, Dave just fucked everything up alright. "Hum…"

"Oh, God, that's what Kurt saw, right?" Quinn enquires, taking her hands to her mouth. "They are taking him again? Maybe he saw them succeeding and that's why he's so scared!"

Santana is giving him a very inquisitive look. "Kurt can't see his own future," she says, quietly. "He saw our future. Did he see them? The Dalton people? With us?"

Dave sighs, defeated. "I don't even know who they are, he just mentioned them," he mumbles, trying to be nonchalant about it.

Everyone keep on staring at him though, and Dave feels beyond uncomfortable. "You know what Kurt saw," Mercedes states.

"Hey, I asked first. You were telling me about Kurt shutting away from everyone, and that some people try to kidnap him," Dave defends himself. "I want to know-"

"This is more important, David," Rachel tells him, looking really upset. "You must tell us what Kurt saw; we're dead worried."

"You can't force me to tell you something he asked me to keep in private," Dave states, and he hates to fight with his friends but he's a bunch of nerves.

"We're just worried, David. You need to tell us," Finn says and Dave slams his fists against the table.

"Stop pushing me! You think you're the only ones worried about this? I'm in the middle of this freaking mess! I have to keep it from you, I have to look after Kurt and he's just shutting me out, and I also have to pretend that everything's fine and even with the things I know, I still don't get half of the stuff I know because as usual, I know fuck-all about anything!"

His friends look somewhat guilty, but he's right and they know it. Ever since yesterday afternoon, his friends have been giving him weird glances, the burden of the future is unbearable and on top of everything he has to keep it cool, like everything is fine. Kurt became his responsibility and with Kurt ignoring him, Dave feels he's just failing at taking care of him. Dave feels that there's a big clock above his head ticking and ticking, and the moment when they'll get attacked will arrive at any minute. He needs to know more, and he needs to know now.

"The Dalton guys are a group of people like us, David," Sebastian tells him, in a calmer tone of voice.

"Another circus? Dalton's circus?"

They all let out a cold laugh. "They actually are a bunch of clowns," Noah says, and Dave remembers he did the same remark when Dave asked about the Blaine guy.

"Is there where Blaine went?"

Sebastian looks somewhat hurt, and nods. "Yes. But they're not a circus; they call themselves that, since they all live in a building that has previously been a school named that way: Dalton. We don't know where it is; they've never told us. It's a secret place, sort of like we are. I mean, we're not a secret but no one knows what the New Direction's circus is actually about. As for them, they're more like… a bunch of second-rate criminals."

Dave blinks, not really getting it. "What?"

"William created this circus for people like us," Mike tells him. "We can exploit out abilities, being with people like us and being safe from what could be a not very understanding society. The circus came handy, since we could translate our abilities into acts, and never get caught for what we can actually do."

"I know this," Dave says.

"We're not the only people with gifts like the ones we have," Mercedes continues. "There was this woman, Shelby, that created another group like us. She recruited people with abilities but she didn't start a circus. What they did was rob places without getting caught to live a high class life; they exploit their abilities that way."

Dave stays silent expecting that someone will tell him that it's just a joke, since it sounds like one. "You're not serious, right?"

They are all looking at him dead serious though. "It's a very attractive place to be, David. You feel like an outcast, having a weird ability and then this woman invites you to this incredible mansion, you get dressed with the most expensive clothes, drive the most expensive cars, eat fancy food, while most people in this country are currently in a very tight economy," Sebastian explains to him, his voice sounding bitter. "In exchange, you have to help to get the money to afford all that. So they use their abilities for that."

Dave says nothing and this time Quinn speaks. "Just think about it. I can walk through walls, I could easily walk into the vault of a bank at night and come out with lots of money, Rachel could read people's mind to know where they hid their money, Santana could teleport herself to places where big fortunes are kept…"

Dave understands it, but it still doesn't make it any better. He never thought that something like their abilities could be used for stuff like that. It does make sense, but he never knew about these incredible gifts, and he first got to know them in the comfortable and happy environment than the circus provides.

"They think they're so much," Noah tells him indignantly. "Always strutting around with their fancy suits and flashy cars, as if we could freaking envy them. Every now and then they find us, trying to convince us to join them. We always told them to go to hell."

Dave's heartbeat starts picking up again, remembering what Kurt told him about the attack. Some Jesse guy told them that if they didn't join them in the good way, they'd do it in the bad way. The sudden fear is almost overwhelming, since what Kurt told him about their future seems like it's taking shape right now.

"B-but why? I mean, they are getting rich already for what you say," Dave asks, trying not to show any distress, since he doesn't want his friends to know any more of what they know already.

"Well, they consider that people with special abilities like us are superior to anyone," Rachel, pushing aside her plate with bacon and resting her elbows on the table. "So we shouldn't live like freak shows, entertaining a boorish rabble of people. Let alone live a low class life, getting money from this boorish rabble to support our poor lifestyle. Their words not mine."

"And don't forget that greed has no limits, David," Mercedes intercedes. "Yes, they have lots of money, but it's never enough."

Dave starts growing anxious. He wants to tell his friends about what Kurt saw, but he's not sure yet. He promised he wouldn't make his friends panic for nothing; still, what his friends are telling him now do make him want to warn them about the future.

"They were not a trouble at first; they would reach us, try to make us join them and there was a lot of bickering, but nothing else."

"But Blaine joined them," Dave states, and Sebastian looks away.

"And Jesse," Mike states and Dave opens his eyes wide. _Jesse_. Kurt mentioned him; he was obviously someone who belonged to the circus, Dave realizes now. "Fuck, Kurt saw him."

"He was one of us as well," Mercedes informs him. "He took off around two years ago."

Dave mentally face-palms himself, since he's terrible at hiding stuff. "Yeah, Kurt mentioned him. I didn't know who he was talking about."

No one looks happy about it. Noah lets out a quietly scornfully 'That jerk' between his teeth. But Dave is nervous; the future seems closer and more tangible now that his friends are telling him this. The Dalton guys are not any longer and abstract threat.

Dave shakes his head, trying to think straight. He decides not to think about it, going back to their conversation. "So they tried to take him."

They all nod. "I never heard Kurt yelling so loud," Sam says as his face darkens. "He woke us all up, and we got him before they could even pull him out of his trailer."

Dave doesn't realize he's been clenching his fists until he notices the pain in his palms as he's digging his finger-nails in his skin. He doesn't know these people, but he already hates them deeply. Dave's very aware of Kurt's fragile state and the idea of people messing with him enrages Dave.

It doesn't make sense though. Kurt said that the Dalton people are going to take Rachel, and that they wanted Quinn; they wanted to take_ them_ not just Kurt.

Dave doesn't want to give away any more of the future so he thinks hard how to phrase a question without slipping any more information.

"So they want Kurt," Dave states, knowing it's not that way or at least not completely.

"In spite of having more members than us, they think we have better gifts," Artie speaks for the first time ever since they started having breakfast. "That our abilities could be more useful for their plans. At first, to them it was 'the more the merrier' or so they said; if we all joined them, they'd be fine with it. Shelby wanted that."

"Shelby, the circ- well, not circus. These people's leader," Dave clarifies.

"She's not ruling Dalton anymore," Santana informs him. "She decided to live a more normal life and this asshole, Dustin took her place and he's… much bolder. Shelby wanted us to join them, and she did think people like us are better than regular people, but she wouldn't hurt us. This guy though, he was the one who planned Kurt's kidnapping."

Dave stares at his coffee, already cold and he's still torn between saying what he knows and keeping his mouth shut. "If they want you all, why did they come for him?"

"Because he's the weakest," Santana states like Dave's stupid.

"Santana!" Rachel snaps at her.

"What? It's true," Santana tells them all. "We all know this; it's not about how strong out gifts are, is about how much resistance we can put against them. William then found out that they have special interest in Kurt and Rachel, also in Artie and Quinn."

Artie snorts. "Like they don't want you…"

"They also want me and Santana," Noah speaks up. "But they would never be able to catch San, and they wouldn't be able to fight me. But Kurt's weak, sadly. Rachel and Quinn are women-"

"I'm in a wheelchair," Artie finishes for Noah.

Dave frowns. "Why you?"

"In the… world of gifted people, mentally based abilities are considered the rarest ones, but also the stronger ones," Artie explains to Dave and Dave pays close attention. Until yesterday, the world of gifted people ended with this circus. "Even more the physic ones. And they quite hate us, because while they have no one with mentally based abilities, in this grubby circus as they call us, we have William, Rachel, Kurt, and myself."

"And we'd be the most useful for his plans. As Quinn said, she could get into any bank vault, Artie could maneuver everything they could use for a robbery away from the crime scene," Rachel continues, looking sadden. "I could get all kinds of information, Kurt the certainty and we're all, supposedly more accessible."

Dave nods quietly, but he really think that Kurt being as he is, he could be quite useless for these Dalton people. Jesse was one of them, so was Blaine; don't they know that Kurt's a mess?

"But Kurt's a mess," Dave blurts out before he can even think about it, and thankfully, instead of receiving angry looks, everyone nods at him.

"Do you know what keeps this circus running, David?" Rachel enquires with a calm voice.

"Ticket sells?"

They all snort at the same time. "With this economy? David, out tickets are twenty to twenty-five cents. We're fifteen people to feed, with fourteen cars to run and a tiger. We offer two shows per week, if we're lucky we add shows or sell out," Rachel continues and Dave gets it.

"The racecourse money," he mumbles and once again, everyone nods.

"William doesn't make huge bets," Mercedes says. "We know it's not the most honest thing to do, so he bets expecting to win just enough to get by and not to raise suspicions. And Kurt only needs to see him. Do you imagine how much money you could make, placing a huge bet in a winning horse or a greyhound? Imagine several of those winning bets; they could get loaded without even having to do anything."

Dave feels the cold sweat running down the back of his neck. It all makes sense, and that only leads to a very bad and certain future. By personal experience, Dave is aware that keeping secrets brings nothing but bad stuff. His heart beats hard and fast inside his chest, as he grows more and more anxious.

This is bad. And even if his interaction with Kurt is minimal, and Dave also doubts about the level of sanity of the boy, he really agrees with him: these Dalton guy don't seem to be people that you can convince them not to do something bad, just by chatting politely to them.

"They're coming," Dave tells them, defeated. "Kurt saw them coming; he's upset because they weren't any friendly, just like they weren't the last time. They want to take some of you. William is now trying to figure out what they are up to, in order to talk to them to make them change their minds."

Quinn, Tina, Mercedes and Rachel stare at him with solemn faces; Brittany, Artie and Finn look as they are trying to conceal their worry while Sam, Noah, Santana and Mike instead, are almost grinning. Sebastian's eyes are fixed on the ground.

"You can't tell them I told you," Dave keeps on talking, deciding not to be specific about the damages of that potential attack. "They made me promise I wouldn't say a word, at least until William finds out more about this. William is going to tell you all, but he doesn't want to scare you or something."

Noah nods, scornfully. "Can't wait to beat their asses if they try to play cocky with us," he says, and Santana nods at him, with a smug in her face.

Some of them look pleased at the prospect of an encounter and Dave is not liking this reaction. They are not aware of the seriousness of it, and Dave can't blame them but still…

"We have around two weeks before this happens," Rachel speaks up, being always the logical one. "Did Kurt say anything else?"

Dave shakes his head slowly. "He doesn't know when or when it's going to happen. He's very scared and upset."

"Can't blame him. God knows what he saw," she continues. "But the important thing, is that we can do something about it, now that we know. We can be prepared; William won't know you told us, David."

They all nod at that, saying that no of them is going to say a word. But then, the mood in the table suddenly changes; everyone is much more relaxed and even content. His friends start talking about being able to prevent the Dalton boys doing any harm to them, or to Kurt, but in an almost condescending way.

All the bacon, eggs, toasts and coffee have turned cold long ago and no one seems to mind. Everyone is chatting much more animatedly, and Dave even hears between the chatter some random comments about sending the Dalton guys off, and kicking 'those douches' asses.

Dave can't join the conversation. Everything is all wrong.

A part of him is relieved, because he let part of the secret out. The other part yet, is even more worried than before. Kurt said they won't win in a future fight against the Dalton people, at least not in the future that Kurt saw: the Dalton people outnumber them.

Yet, his friends seem to be convinced that by knowing that these people will show up at some moment, they'll be prepared. Dave doesn't think it's a matter of being prepared or not, if the Dalton guys are going to be much more than themselves. But his friends are more relaxed and happier, and Dave doesn't have the heart to kill the mood. He can't simply say 'They're going to take Rachel, kill Lily and apparently kill Sam or hurt him pretty badly.'

It devastates Dave though; he feels incredibly alone now, because it seems that his friends are feeding a false sense of hope, and Dave can't just break into it. His throat grows tight, being pretty much trapped between the future and his present.

"I'd better go and take Kurt some breakfast," Dave says, getting up and busying himself with a plate, picking some random stuff. He's not really paying attention to what he's going to feed Kurt with, since the boy will be probably sleeping; but Dave needs to leave this place before he starts yelling that they're all in great danger.

Tina and Quinn help him to prepare a decent breakfast for Kurt, and as soon as the tray is full, Dave leaves the camp in the direction of Kurt's trailer. For some reason, Dave is sure that Kurt's sleeping so he doesn't even bother at knocking; Dave simply goes in, closing the door behind himself and leaning his back against it.

He sighs deeply, resting the back of his head against the door, shutting his eyes. He's almost relieved being inside, away from all the spirit of faux safety that fell upon the camp. It's funny, because when he opens his eyes he's standing in Kurt's trailer; a trailer that looks twice as small as any other trailer in the circus due the amount of stuff that Kurt has hoarded inside. But somehow, Dave feels he can breathe properly inside this tiny place that it's practically Kurt's home.

Kurt is fast asleep, just as Dave expected him to be and he doesn't even bother waking him up. He walks towards Kurt's table, placing the tray and sitting down; he stares at Kurt who seems completely calm and peaceful on his sleep, a complete opposite of the Kurt that Dave knows when he's awake.

Dave envies him, because just for a second because Dave would like to be asleep and away from their troubles. Yet, he remembers that what's bothering him, it's probably bothering Kurt a hundredth times harder.

They are royally screwed, Dave knows. He doesn't really hope that William will bring any better news; apparently, everyone is positive that this future encounter with the Dalton people will be very unlike to the way Kurt witnessed, and maybe they're right and Dave is worrying too much.

Is there's something that Dave knows is that Kurt's fragile and easily disturbed, so Dave could think that Kurt was just being Kurt. After all, Dave has never seen the boy in acting normal. In fact, the few times that Dave has interacted with Kurt, the kid was always perturbed.

Yet, Kurt's shaken up state, his frightened eyes and his broken voice telling him their future are still in Dave's head. He can't seem to join the circus crew positive attitude towards their future.

In the almost solitude of Kurt's trailer, Dave lets himself panic a little.

* * *

William returns later in the morning, right before lunch. He doesn't say much to Dave, who remains in Kurt's trailer with a sleeping Kurt. They decide to skip lunch and head to Ashland, just a four-hour drive away.

They have a show tomorrow and while they pack the camp, Dave wonders constantly is the Dalton people are going to be there, just waiting for them. No one seems concerned about this; the only modification to their plans is that Dave is going to be driving Kurt's trailer this time, and probably until Kurt's ready to meet other people.

Dave tries to relax when they hit the road, but the truth is that he doesn't even have a nice sight to distract himself with. They are in the Midwest, somewhere between Missouri, Kansas or maybe Iowa; Dave finds hard to know where he is almost constantly.

They're always going from one place to the other, and they're also visiting small towns. He'd remember the names of cities like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, and which state they are in, but the circus never visits those towns. Instead, they move from small town to small town, with names like Franklin, Oxford, Georgetown, or Springfield and there are at least twenty cities –let alone small towns- with those names in the country.

The view in the road is boring, with miles and miles of countryside. Every now and then Dave sees a bunch of cows in the horizon, but that's it.

He feels himself growing sick, and paranoid. He has never even seen these Dalton people, but he has the constant feeling that they are going to be right there in the middle of the road, ready to hurt them. Dave realizes that Kurt didn't say if they were going to get attacked during day or night; after all, the guys told him that they tried to kidnap Kurt in the middle of the night.

"They got into the camp, Karofsky," Dave grits between his teeth, trying to calm himself down. "They won't jump us in the middle of the road."

And nothing changes.

Four hours later, just like William told them, they arrive to Ashland. Ashland is incredibly small, and according to their 'Welcome' sign, its population is only 657 citizens but all those people welcome them warmly.

Dave feels beyond stressed though. While the circus crew stays with the people of Ashland who are gathering around them, Dave drives a little further, keeping the all time distance from everyone else. For the first time, he's doing it for both, Kurt and himself.

And it's not like Kurt's going to be able to see people's futures, since Dave is right there a couple of feet away, driving his trailer. Yet, in case that Kurt's awake or wakes up, Dave tries not to startle the boy by breaking his routine.

After parking his truck, Dave heads to Kurt's trailer. He knocks at his door, and he starts getting used to receive no answer. Like he did before, Dave ventures inside, finding Kurt yet again, asleep and the breakfast remains untouched.

Dave frowns to himself; and for a minute he worries. Kurt can't possibly sleep so much. Dave spent almost the entire morning in his trailer and Kurt hasn't even flinched. And then they've been on the road for four hours more.

Dave steps closer to Kurt's bed, slowly shaking the boy and he swallows hard when the boy doesn't even move. Dave touches Kurt's face and he's warm so there's no chance that Kurt has died or something, but Dave still shakes them harder.

"Kurt? Kurt, wake up," Dave calls him, and Kurt knits his brows together in his sleep, grumbling softly and then he turns around.

Dave sighs, relieved. After making sure that Kurt is at least alive, Dave leaves the kid's trailer. He still has to tow his own trailer, so he waits outside, until Mike starts approaching, to let Dave know he can go back to the camp.

Dave goes back to the camp and still, nothing changes. It's almost disturbing how everything seems to be just like every other day; like any other arrival to any other town in the middle of nowhere. He has to fight against the urge of grabbing who ever is closer to him by their shoulders and shake them, hoping they come to their senses.

And maybe he is exaggerating; they are fifteen people, everyone knows better than himself and thirteen of them are sure that nothing wrong is going to happen to them. But still, Dave wishes that someone else was feeling as bad as he's feeling. The only person who's as upset as he is sleeps all day.

Ever since yesterday afternoon he hasn't seen Kurt awake even once, and even though Dave needs to share the burden with someone, he won't wake Kurt up just to load him with his worries.

Dave tows his trailer next to Kurt's and later they put the tent up with the help of the citizens of Ashfield and after showering, Rachel calls Dave to have their training hour.

He gapes at her. "Are you serious?"

Rachel crosses her arms over her chest. "We skipped it yesterday. We can't keep on missing training hours. The girls are cooking, so we'll train a bit until dinner is ready."

Dave really doesn't want to do it. The last thing he'll be able to do right now is to focus on unblocking Rachel. "Rach, c'mon. I can't take you to my trailer, Kurt's next to-"

"I talked to William. It's only seven o'clock, none of us will be using our abilities in the camp, so we can train in my trailer."

Dave rolls his eyes, and follows her. He's been in Rachel and Quinn's trailer before; it's the girliest one. They have flowery red wallpaper. Their curtains are pink with ribbons, and their beds have colorful covers and pillows, just like their pretty tablecloth placed on their dinner table.

Santana and Brittany are both girls who share the same trailer and their trailer isn't half as girlish as Quinn and Rachel's. On their way to the girl's trailer, Tina joins then to be the third part of Dave's training.

Once inside, Dave lies down in Quinn's bed. It's his routine, he always does his training being laid down, and it doesn't seem relevant to his training so he wonders is he should be sat down or something. Maybe a vertical position will help his brain to focus.

Still, he lies down as usual while Rachel and Tina sit at the table; Rachel sets her clock and says. "Alright, you know what you have to do."

Dave sighs, and closes his eyes. He finds hard time focusing.

At first, he starts thinking about Lily dying and that leads to Sam, maybe, dying. He tries not to think that Sam won't die, but then he thinks about how shocking must have been for Kurt, to actually _see_ that happening. So he starts thinking about Kurt and he wonders if he has woken up, or if he has eaten or how the hell does he manages to sleep so much. Then he remembers that once William said that Kurt takes sleeping pills, so maybe that's his way to cope with the stress.

Plus, they were also in the road, and Lord! Dave's so dumb; Kurt's always knocked out when they are travelling. Obviously Kurt has those pills with him.

_Focus, Dave, damn it. Unblock Rachel!_ He tells to himself, and his head is full of thoughts, the mess of thoughts start fading until there's nothing, just a white light and the complete silence.

"Tina! That's so gross!"

Dave startles at the sound of Rachel's voice, blinking repeatedly and Rachel is suddenly taking her hands to her mouth, gaping at both of them, Dave and Tina while Tina looks at first confused and she blushes furiously on the second later.

"What?" Dave enquires, dumbfound.

"Oh my God! David, you did it!" Rachel practically yells, standing up and throwing herself at Dave. "You did it! I knew I would train you just right!"

"What happened?" Dave blushes as Rachel lands on top of him, but she quickly removes herself from him, sitting by his side. Dave sits in the bed, still not knowing what the hell is going on.

"You unblocked me!"

"What?"

"Oh, Lord, Rachel, you heard that?" Tina asks, looking completely mortified.

Dave smiles widely, and for the first time in what seems to be forever, his chest feels slightly warmer at the small prospect of hope; maybe not for their future, but at least for his control of his ability. "What? What did you hear? How did I do it?"

Tina and Rachel exchange a look that Dave doesn't get at first. "Just… Tina having dirty thoughts about Mike."

"Rachel!"

Dave presses his lips together, half embarrassed and half amused. He didn't think that Tina would spend his useless hour having dirty thoughts about her boyfriend.

"It was just small, almost like a fainted whisper and I'm sorry I spoke up," Rachel continues hurriedly, but more excited than Dave has ever seen her. "But I got grossed out, I didn't want to hear _that _and I didn't realize that Tina didn't actually say a word, and I broke your concentration but it was there! You did it!"

And Dave smiles at her, but then he frowns at himself. "But… how did I do it? I didn't even realize, I wasn't really focusing much," he mumbles, and Rachel glares. "I'm worried about this Dalton thing, alright? And then I told myself to unblock you and everything faded and you were yelling at Tina-"

"David, David, it's fine," Rachel cuts him off, and Dave pants. He didn't realize he was so frenzied.

"If I don't know how I did it, how can I do it again?"

"If you did it once, it means you can actually do it, David," Tina tells him, as her skin color starts returning to its normal pale. "It's the first step, actually the biggest one."

"We have to tell everyone!" Rachel states, taking him by his hand and practically dragging him out of the trailer. "Guys! Guys, David did it!" she starts venting as they approach to the center of the camp, where everyone is getting dinner and the table ready.

For a small moment, Dave forgets about his troubles and lets himself be happy and a little self-conscious at getting everyone's attention. But then it slowly starts sinking down to reality, and he feels worse; they shouldn't be celebrating anything. There are bad people out there, two weeks close to attack them and hurt them. Kurt is so upset about this that he's knocking himself out constantly.

So after receiving hugs and congratulations from everyone, Dave heads back to his trailer just to 'get a sweater' in order to give himself an alibi. He quickly gets a sweater and on his way back to the camp, he knocks at Kurt's door a few times, and as usual he receives no answer.

"Can I take my dinner with Kurt's?" Dave asks the guys, when he's back to the camp. "Kurt's awake, and I think he could use some company."

They all stare at them, with a mix of hope and excitement and Dave feels like hell about lying to them, but he's not really comfortable in the camp and he'd like to be alone. Being with Kurt is almost like being alone so…

"Yes! Yeah, you do that, boy," Mercedes tells him hurriedly, and she starts filling the tray with food and drinks, with the help of Noah and Sebastian.

"You tell us how he's doing alright?" Finn requests, and Dave nods.

Dave returns to Kurt's trailer with a tray full of warm food, and locks himself in there. Kurt is still sleeping, but when Dave sits at the table, the plates in the lunch tray have been emptied and that means that once again, Kurt woke up, got up strategically when Dave wasn't around. Dave doesn't really know how the kid does that.

He sends a last glance to Kurt's sleeping figure and begins to have his dinner. He keeps on staring at the boy every once in a while, with the hope that he might wake up at some point but Dave knows Kurt won't.

Still, Dave doesn't mind. It's almost strange how he's getting used to seclude himself inside Kurt's trailer. It's like being alone but not really since Kurt's always there, and Dave likes that. It's an odd way to be by his own, and that's exactly what he wants now that he's worried to death and everybody seems not to mind about their future, and at the same time, Dave has the urge to feel his worry with someone, and Kurt's there, obviously as upset as he is, even if they don't really share a word.

Dave has his dinner in a relative peace; he has forgotten about his improves during training, since the sight of Kurt reminds him of yesterday's events, and the visions of the future that Kurt trusted him with and that's all what Dave has in mind now.

He sighs, defeated and unsure about how long he'll be able to deal with this.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: **I'm very sorry for taking so long to update this. This chapter was written even before the last update, but the beta didn't have time to work on it at first and today she emailed me, saying she wasn't going to make it. I'm deeply sorry for making you all wait, I was hoping I could make an update with a better grammar. If I knew that the chapter wasn't going to be betaed anyway, I would have posted it long ago.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Kurt gets up from bed around noon, a little after David left his trailer.

Kurt didn't expect to find him there when he woke up a couple of hours ago. Ever since he had the visions of the future with the Dalton boys, Kurt has been avoiding everyone, and that included David.

It makes him feel guilty, of course. David is being beyond polite and nice towards him; every time Kurt wakes up, breakfast, lunch or dinner are there waiting for him. Dave kept his word, and none of his friend came close to him, or at least Kurt thinks so since he has seen no future for the past two days.

It's nice; it feels nice. He'd probably feel much better if he wasn't taking so many sleeping pills, but it's been almost two full days since he saw Quinn, Santana and Mercedes' future, and his brain as been free from visions ever since.

He misses his friends quite a lot, but at least his head doesn't hurt. He doesn't have to make any effort, ignoring or pushing the future away from his head, basically because no one's around him but David, and Kurt can't see David's future.

It's almost like a taking a vacation. It's been long since the last time Kurt spent so much time without having any vision, and it would be good, if it wasn't because that requires him being completely alone, and if it wasn't because he's beyond scared about the future that waits for him and his friends.

So far, he hasn't talked to anyone. He sleeps most of the time, because he can't deal with his present, knowing what he knows. He's afraid that William won't do anything about the confrontation with the Dalton boys, or that he still believes that they can fix this by talking to them.

Kurt doesn't know when that's going to happen, and just in case he keeps himself knocked out. When he thinks about the Dalton boys attacking them, Kurt also thinks about what's going to happen to him and he can't help imagining himself, alone in his trailer, hearing how his friends are getting hurt in the camp, unable to do anything.

Before the Dalton boy take him, of course. Kurt knows how much they want him, even if he doesn't understand why, since he's completely useless due the lack of control of his ability.

But Kurt doesn't want to have to go through that: the fear and guilt of hearing his friends suffer outside, while he waits in his trailer to be taken away. He prefers to resign himself to his fate, and just wake up in the Dalton Academy, wherever that is and immediately get wrapped by the future.

He won't feel anything that way; he won't even have time to realize he's been dragged away from the present. The future will take him, and he'll get lost into it.

After what he saw, he doesn't think that Dalton boys will be too considerate with them or with him. They tried to take him once already; Kurt was awake that night since he stayed up late finishing some costumes, and he at least had time to ask for help, when was suddenly seeing the future of two people he didn't know, sharing their time with people he did know: Blaine and Jesse.

He had a bad feeling, since there was no reason for the Dalton people to be in their camp, in the middle of nowhere around midnight, so he started yelling for his friends. Those Dalton guys were close to his trailer, and he didn't like it.

As soon as he started calling for help, a mix of futures wrapped around him. The next thing he knew, was that Rachel was forcing him out from her future. His friends later told him that they kicked out six Dalton guys, who were trying to break into his trailer and that meant that Kurt got lost not only in the future of those Dalton guys, but also in his friends who got there to scare them away.

The future wasn't bad, at least. It wasn't like when he was in the Assylum that he got to see and to feel awful stuff. It still scares him though, to see and to feel things that don't belong to him; he always remembers the future he saw and how it felt, and he hates it.

It's frightening to get lost, unable to get away from visions he doesn't even want to have in the first place. The future becomes his present, and in the worst cases, he becomes the people from the future he gets to see, the uncertainty of not knowing when or who he'll be it's horrible, just like it's the uncertainty of not knowing where he's going to be and with who, if he's able to get back to the present.

And now Kurt has no control of his own future. He really has no other options but to sit in his trailer and wait for the best.

He waits sleeping though.

He feels bad for shutting David out, but the truth is that generally, Kurt prefers to be alone when he's upset and that's usually because he's more relaxed, being future-free. David is a whole new thing: Kurt can be with someone around and simultaneously future-free.

Kurt doesn't know how to do that though; he's used to be on his own.

Because Kurt doesn't let himself be awake for long, he didn't even get to confront David. But when he woke up a couple of hours later, David was in his trailer. Kurt pretended to be asleep; the last time he saw a human face, was actually David's, before falling asleep two days ago.

From what Kurt heard, Dave was eating something so at first –considering that was sunlight- he assumed it was lunchtime. Kurt was hungry, and it's been long since he ate warm food, but for some reason, he didn't want to face David.

After two days of complete solitude, having someone close to him again was almost a novelty.

David stayed for the longest time though. Kurt believed that maybe, David was waiting for him to wake up and have lunch together, but David stayed there, reading. At least Kurt heard the sound of the passing pages.

Kurt didn't understand what David was doing in his trailer; after all, David could read in his own trailer. But then, Kurt got used to David's presence, and from time to time, Kurt drifted back to sleep, waking up shortly after. The other boy remained there.

Until someone knocked at the door. The fear paralyzed Kurt, and he stayed immobile, not even breathing. He wanted to jump out from bed and cling onto David just to make himself sure that his presence will keep the future away from him.

But Kurt stayed in bed, hearing how David was getting up from the table and heading to the door. It was Noah, and told David he could go to the camp, since the show was over and once that people left, they were going to out down the tent.

David left with Noah.

He sighed relieved at the lack of visions and then Kurt realized that he really missed people, when he heard Noah and David's voices; he also realized that, having the show ended meant that David spent most of the afternoon in his trailer.

Kurt quickly got up, feeling the urge to pee and rushed to his small bathroom. After emptying his bladder, he stumbled to his table in order to fill his stomach. His body hurts, it always happens when he spends so much time in bed: his back and his knees ache, and his muscles feel quite tense.

He didn't even bother in changing his pajamas, since he was just hungry and though he's pretty much wide awake, having slept for several hours, just in case, he'll pop in some sleeping pills after having a very late lunch, in order to put himself to sleep.

Now he finds himself in front of poached eggs with rice and cheese, Graham bread and butter, grape jelly, and two glasses, one with water and another with orange juice. Kurt smiles to himself and proceeds to eat, wishing the poached eggs were warm, even if they don't really taste bad cold.

He tries not to think about the future, or about anything his he'll start getting sick. Focused in his meal, he quickly finishes the eggs and the bread, pushing his plate away and reaching the grape jelly. Kurt assumes the jelly was a gift from the people in this town –Kurt doesn't even know where they are- since they don't have a fridge to make jelly. The ice box it's only for meat and stuff like that.

It's been long since the last time Kurt had jelly, so he drinks some water and-

_Sebastian shifts uncomfortably in his fancy chair, unfastening his stupid tie and unbuttoning the upper buttons of his shirt since he feels he's getting choked._

_He sighs, looking around the spacious dark dinning room. The table is antique, and huge, with several golden candelabras adorning it. The walls of the room are tall, decorated with classy moldings and a huge chandelier, golden and with crystals hanging from the ceiling. Heavy red velvet curtains covering the tall windows, polished hardwood floors…_

_He's alone in the room, with a cup of tea in front of him. It's late in the night, the lights are off and everything is silent._

_Just when he's holding the cup of tea, the lights of the room turn up, just dimly and Sebastian rolls his eyes, putting the expensive piece of china back to its expensive little plate. He leans back to his chair as Blaine comes out through the doors, in his silk pajamas and his fancy blue robe._

"_You're up late," Blaine points out, taking a seat across him._

"_Yes."_

_Blaine sighs, but looks at him almost pained. "You're avoiding me."_

_Sebastian snorts. "I'm not. This is a big place."_

_Blaine fidgets in his place, and Sebastian clenches his jaw, not really in the mood for this. "You know, when I saw you arriving with the boys… I was so happy. I thought-"_

"_That I joined them because of you?" Sebastian crosses his arms over his chest, as Blaine looks at him intensely and nods. "I'm afraid that you think too much of yourself."_

_His ex-boyfriend winces. "Seb, darling-"_

"_I'm not your darling. I stopped being that when you decided to take off." _

_Blaine leans back to his chair as well, holding his head high, almost defiantly. "But you're here now. I refuse to believe it's because you're suddenly fond of the Dalton boys, since I've seen you around, you're still not comfortable here. I know it has something to do with me; with us."_

_Sebastian shows a small smile. "Yeah, it does," he says quietly. "I just needed to see what was more important than us. What was that beat me."_

"_I'm still crazy about you," Blaine tells him softly, and Sebastian's chest feels like it's constricting against his will. "There hasn't been a day that I didn't think about you, or missed you. I lov-"_

"_Don't say that," Sebastian grits between his teeth. "Don't you dare to tell me you love me."_

"_But I do."_

"_No, it's not. This," Sebastian waves his hands, pointing at his surroundings. "Was clearly more important for you. Those stupid clothes, and your flashy car, so if you chose that over me, then clearly you didn't love me that much."_

"_You chose the circus over me," Blaine tells him, sounding bitter. "You could have come with me. I asked you to."_

_Sebastian gapes at him. "And betray my friends? They saved me; they saved you! You think people like us could just be fine around normal people? They gave you a home-"_

"_I had one."_

"_And why aren't you there right now? That wasn't your home! You certainly didn't stay home when they asked you to join them, right? People like us, are home. The circus was our home, and we were happy there. I was happy there; I never cared about this stuff! My house was just like this place and I was wretched in there!"_

_Blaine's face darkness, in obvious guilt. "Not all of us were born with your luck."_

"_Luck! You know better anybody know how miserable I was at home, with my family." _

"_I know. But it's not wrong to want things. I wanted better things for us."_

_Sebastian laughs loudly, not caring about waking up anyone. "Better things? What? A better blanket to cover yourself with at night? A better car? Prettier clothes? Caviar for dinner? Screw all that!"_

_Blaine snorts, folding his arms over his chest. "Then why are you still here if it's not because of me?"_

"_I have nothing to go back to thanks to your friends. I told you why I came here, I shouldn't have come, but I did. I should have stayed with them."_

"_Look me at the eye and tell me you don't have feelings for me," Blaine tells him evenly. "That you didn't spend every day ever since we got apart, thinking about me just like I did about you."_

_Sebastian looks at him at the eye and nods. "I did think about you, every day. I can't get over you," he admits, bitterly, letting out a sad laugh. "But I don't love you, and I don't want you. I want what we had back, and that's never going to happen because I will never be able to look at you, without thinking that you gave your back to your friends, that you want to hurt them and that you chose some Italian suits and a stupid French cuisine for dinner over me."_

_Blaine lets out a desperate sigh. "Seb, I love you."_

"_Stop saying that!" Sebastian yells at him, completely enraged, hitting his fists hard against the table._

"Kurt! Kurt, stop it!" Sebastian tells him, but Kurt just hears him faintly. He's still seeing Blaine clearly in front of him, and he's so angry at him because he didn't love him enough. Those feelings belong to Sebastian, but now are Kurt's and he can't manage to release himself from the future.

Kurt senses Sebastian and his present somewhere but he can't find the way back.

"It's the truth; you feel the sam- You know nothing about how I feel! And get those ridiculous ideas of us getting together out of your head, because you know what? I'm not I'm here to get back together with you! We're over! We were done the day you decide to get in that dumb Mercedes-Benz, leaving us behind! Leaving me! Seb, please, hear me out. I don't want to hear you anymore! I just-"

"KURT! COME BACK!" Sebastian shakes him violelty.

Kurt finds himself standing in his trailer, with his back pressed against Sebastian who's holding him tight from behind and the next second, a terrible pain coming from his hand makes him moan loudly.

"Ow! My hand," Kurt lifts it up, Sebastian has his arms wrapped around him, not letting him move his arms, but he sees his own hand covered with blood and a piece of glass stuck to his palm.

"Are you back?" Sebastian asks him, sounding worked up.

"Seb? My hand- you, Blaine," and the future starts sinking. His hands hurt terribly, but he quickly processes the visions he's got, and before he can notice he's crying. "You're leaving. You're leaving with them!"

His friend turns him around, leading him to his bed and kneels down, ailing him. "Kurt, calm down."

"You can't leave. Not you too, they're bad people, Seb. I know you love Blaine but-"

Sebastian holds him by his face. "Kurt, please. Just listen to me, alright? I need to talk to you, but first we have to take care of that."

Kurt nods, but it doesn't make it any better. He liked Jesse, and he left and turned into a bastard. He worshiped Blaine, and it still pains him that he chose to leave with the Dalton boys as well, just as he pained to see Sebastian so hurt because of that. Sebastian is one of his best friends; all his friends are his best friends, but he really adores Sebastian.

The Dalton people are horrible people, Kurt knows so after what he saw. Why is he suddenly losing everything to them?

"I need to remove the glass, alright?"

Kurt nods, wiping his tears away with his good hand and he doesn't really understand how he got hurt. "What happened?"

Sebastian sighs, looking remorseful. "I'm sorry. I had to talk to you, I know it was going to be bad for you. I found you at your table… really wrapped up in my future, I guess. I was unsure about it… leaving with them, but it seems I'm really going to do it," he says, almost sadly.

"You can stay. Once you know your future, you can always change it, Seb."

"Take a deep breath. Three, two, one," Sebastian changes the topic, and Kurt does take a deep breath when Sebastian pulls the glass out of his flesh.

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" Kurt moans, feeling the pain in his hand all over his arm. Blood starts pouring out of his wound, and Sebastian rushes to Kurt's small bathroom, taking a towel and presses it over the cut, stopping the bleeding.

Visions start assaulting him, but he ignores them.

"So I… I believe I fisted a table? You did as well, smashing your glass of water," Sebastian continues explaining to him how he got hurt.

"You did."

"I'm sorry. I heard you talking from outside, and when I got it, there you were… Very into my future, apparently. And Blaine's," he says quietly. "Then you slammed your fists against the table, you didn't even notice you got hurt and I'm so sorry for that. You were yelling, or I was yelling at Blaine I guess, and I ran towards you, holding you back. I was afraid you could hurt yourself even more. I don't have other stuff to heal you. I can bring stuff, but Dave and the other will know I'm here and-"

"It's alright," Kurt tells him, since even if his hands hurt, he has other worries right now. "Please, don't go with them. You said so, if Blaine chose you over fancy things, then he's not worth it."

Sebastian swallows hard, getting up from the floor and sitting next to him. "Ever since they tried to take you with them, I kept thinking about joining them if we met them again."

Kurt gasps. He doesn't know if David or William told anything to the guys about the Dalton people coming, but if they don't know, Sebastian just witnessed a glimpse of his future. Well, Sebastian witnessed him acting that future; and it included Blaine and the Dalton Academy.

So Sebastian will know that these people are coming. Kurt starts shaking, in anxiety and Sebastian rests his hand on Kurt's knee.

"I know they're coming," Sebastian states quietly.

"They told you? What- what did- I asked them not to. David promised to me that-"

"William, it was William," Sebastian cuts him off, hurriedly. "Dave didn't say anything; we just know they are coming."

Kurt breathes out relieved, even if it's just for now. Eventually, they have to know the real threat and he's also sort of glad that Dave kept his word.

"I don't know what you saw, but ever since I found out that they're coming back, I kept thinking about going with them even more," he continues and Kurt winces. "I don't know what you saw, but I didn't want you to get the wrong idea if you saw me leaving."

Kurt's eyes are filled with tears again; he didn't see Sebastian joining the Dalton people when he had the visions two days ago… but just saw that he's joining them now. "Seb, please-"

"We don't know where the Dalton Academy is, Kurt," Sebastian tells him, staring intensely to his eyes. "After that night, I kept on thinking… what would have happened if they succeeded?"

He shivers, since he never really considered it. Kurt was so upset about the mess his head was about the confrontation with so many futures at once that he never really thought about it, until he saw they're coming back. Kurt wants to believe that something will happen, to prevent himself and his friends from getting hurt, but if the Dalton boys succeed, what's going to happen next?

Kurt shakes his head, trying not to get overwhelmed. He's doing a remarkably effort at ignoring all the images of Blaine and the Dalton Academy; if he gets too upset, he'll be screwed.

"They tried to take you once, they're going back for you or for others and if they succeed, how are we going to get you back?" Sebastian continues, making Kurt frown.

"I don't understand."

"They're getting more aggressive, Kurt. I don't think they'll believe that if they try to hurt us like when they try to take you that way, that we would chose to go willingly with them. But everyone knows about me and Blaine, even them. It wouldn't be suspicious if I joined them; it would look like… it's because of Blaine."

Kurt swallows hard; he doesn't like this. He doesn't want Sebastian or any of his friends around the Dalton people, since they are bad people. Kurt saw what they're going to do to them. They are not a bunch of prissy cocky guys anymore.

"So you want to spy on them? They're dangerous people-"

"We need to know at least where the hell the Dalton Academy is," Sebastian states firmly. "They want you, and Rachel, and Quinn and Artie and any of us if they could get us, and maybe if they get the girls, they could… I don't know, escape or something, but how would you or Artie? How would you find your way back to us, or how would we find our way back to you? Not even William knows where the Academy is."

Kurt looks down to the floor, feeling incredibly upset and weak. He's aware that the reason why they tried to take him and not others, it's because he's weak. Now his friend wants to take a great risk, for him and maybe it's not just for him, since Kurt knows that Sebastian has a point and his friends could get taken away as well. But still…

"I just want to go, to know where they are," Sebastian tells him, staring at him right to his eye. "I wasn't sure about doing it, and I didn't tell anyone. No one would approve, and I really want the Dalton people to believe I want to be there, so they'll accept me."

"You think that they're going to let you just walk away once you decide to leave?"

Kurt really believes Sebastian's intentions; he's aware that Sebastian despises the Dalton people, and even if he loves Blaine –Kurt just felt it- Sebastian is really hurt and he really doesn't want Blaine back –Kurt felt that too.

He can sense that Sebastian is scared about this, just like he is. Still, Sebastian lets out a small laugh. "It's not like they can hurt me, right?" he says, like he's trying not to worry him so much.

And Sebastian is right: he can't get physically hurt, but Kurt still worries.

"There's a notepad and a pencil in that drawer of my vanity," Kurt says, pointing it at it with both of his hands, since with the good hand he's holding the towel against the wounded one. "Can you get it to me?" Sebastian frowns, but he does what Kurt asks. "Write this: four-eight-six-seven-two-five-nine."

Sebastian writes it down, and then he looks up to him. "A phone number?"

Kurt nods. He has never used it, since he can't go anywhere near to a phone, but he still has that phone number in his mind. "Yes. In case you need something, call there and you'll be able to get to William."

Sebastian stares down at the number, and grins slightly. "I really haven't thought about what I could do after… you know."

It really pains Kurt to see what Sebastian is going to do, but Sebastian knows his future now, and he doesn't seem like he's going to change it. "Just be careful, alright?"

Sebastian leans and hugs him tightly, and Kurt can't hug him back because of his hand. It's still hurts a lot, but he has more serious business, like to enjoy this hug since he doesn't know when he's going to see Sebastian again, if he leaves to the Dalton Academy.

"You reek," Kurt points out, as Sebastian's terrible smell hits his brain. The other boy laughs, breaking the embrace and Kurt notices that Sebastian is in his working clothes.

"I haven't showered yet, we were putting down the tent and I faked ill to get here without the others noticing. And I should probably go before they do."

Kurt nods quietly.

"I'll send Dave with something to heal your hand and-"

"You can't," and Lord, it really hurts and it's still bleeding a lot. "If you tell him I'm hurt, he'll know you've seen me."

Sebastian's face falls. "You need-"

"I'll ring the bell," Kurt remembers about it. It's been long since the last time he used it. In fact, he even forgotten it was there the night the Dalton boys tried to take him away.

"You'll scare the hell out of everyone," Sebastian says, standing up and heading to the door. "You do that."

"Take care, alright?"

Sebastian nods. "Just don't tell anyone, please."

"I won't."

After exchanging one last smile, Sebastian leaves his trailer and Kurt removes the towel just to see his wound bleeding broadly again. He focuses just slightly in the blurry visions that pass before his eyes, just to be sure when Sebastian will be gone for good.

It's weird; seeing Blaine again after so much time, it feels weird. Kurt kind of misses him now, and he can't imagine how Sebastian must miss him.

As the visions become more distant, Kurt thinks about Sebastian's future. He has never really seen the Dalton boys; ever since Kurt joined the circus, he never really left his trailer and when he did, it was just to go to the costumes' trailer which is conveniently parked next to him.

He knows about them, of course, since his friends talked to him about them plenty of times. The time they tried to take him, Kurt didn't even get to see them since they couldn't get inside.

The place looked really elegant and fancy, and it doesn't surprise Kurt since as far as he's aware, Dalton people live very luxurious lives, affording their expensive life style with their ill-gotten money.

And as he thinks about his friend's future, Sebastian's words hit him: "_I have nothing to go back to thanks to your friends."_

Kurt frowns to himself, as he starts growing anxious. What's going to happen to them? What's going to happen to the circus? Why can't Sebastian come back to them? It seems that the encounter with the Dalton boys will happen, since it seems that something will happen to the circus because of Blaine's friends. This can't be a very far future… if it's happening like the last time he saw someone's future after being with David, Sebastian being at Dalton shouldn't be happening up to at least a whole month ahead. Maybe.

Seeing such a far future only happened to him once, so they don't really know how it works. It could still happen next week, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Fear invades him; he starts panting, anxious and distressed and without having to do any effort in ignoring any future, the pain coming from his hand becomes more noticeable. Kurt reaches the string that is placed right in the wall by his bed –that goes all over the wall, part of the ceiling, the wall where the door is and through a little hole, the string goes outside the trailer. A posh dispositive that the boys came up with so he can ring the bell from his bed, since he usually had very upsetting nightmares back then – and pulls it several times, as he hears the bell ringing outside.

He wants David to come now; not only to help him to heal his hand, but just to be with someone; someone who knows just like him that bad things are going to happen, so he can freak out and at least share his load with someone.

Kurt's being very inconsiderate towards David, since he shuts him out most of the time, and now he calls for him when he's in need. He wouldn't do such a thing in other circumstances, but right now, it's all he can do.

* * *

Dave is carrying a heavy box along with Sam when he hears the ringing bell. At first, he doesn't pay attention until he notices that Sam let the box fall to the floor.

"Sam, what-" Dave says nothing, because Sam's eyes are wide open.

Tina, Noah and Quinn are close to him, since they're all heading to the equipment trailer in order to storage different stuff, and Dave quickly notices that they are all, incredible quiet in their places, staring in direction to the camp.

"The bell," Tina says, quietly and Dave looks up, not really looking at anything but paying attention to the ringing bell. What about it? Must be something in the town that-

"Go to Kurt's trailer," Noah approaches him, looking pretty agitated.

"What?"

"He's ringing the bell!" Quinn intercedes, equally concerned. "Go! He's in need!"

Dave suddenly remembers what his friends told him about Kurt's bell, and turns on his heels, speeding towards Kurt's trailer. A billion of thoughts go through his head, like 'Kurt's up,' 'Kurt's hurt or something,' 'I'm going to see Kurt awake,' 'Is Kurt alright? Of course he's not!'

Dave has never heard that bell, and it's been over two months since he joined the circus, so Kurt must have a very good reason to do so. Dave grows more anxious; he pants as he runs towards Kurt's trailer, almost as if he's waiting for the worse even if he doesn't know what that worse could be.

"Kurt! I'm coming," Dave says loudly when he reaches the door, and he doesn't wait for an answer. He simply storms inside, and his eyes fall quickly upon Kurt's figure.

Kurt is sitting in his bed, and he sound of the ringing bell stops immediately as Kurt's eyes are fixed on him. There's an endless second of silence in which they just stare at each other; Dave pants, so agitated that he doesn't have enough breath to speak up.

An endless second in which Dave notices Kurt's eyes, and he knows that the kid is about to cry. Dave also notices that there's blood all over the floor, and then he sees Kurt holding a small white towel, covered with blood.

"Jesus Chris, Kurt," Dave finally says, approaching to the boy. "What the hell happened?"

Kurt's mouth opens and closes repeatedly like he can't find any words. He points at his hand, and Dave carefully removes the towel making Kurt wince.

"I-I tripped," Kurt says, almost voiceless as if he was trying not to cry. "Crushed my hand against a glass."

For some reason, Dave believes that what's about to make Kurt cry is not the pain that he must be feeling due this nasty cut. From what Dave sees, the cut is very deep.

"I need to go back to the camp," Dave resolves; he needs to keep his priorities in order. Kurt's awake, and part of him is relieved or maybe excited to see him up, although he's not sure how positive that is for him. He wants to comfort Kurt, for whatever that is making him so visibly anxious. But Kurt's hurt, and he needs to fix it. "To bring, I don't know, some bandages or something."

Kurt gasps, holding him by his arm with his good hand. "Please, don't go. Don't leave me alone," he says, quietly and Dave can see the tears filling his eyes.

Dave stays quiet for a second. "Listen, I need to go," he tells him, and Kurt presses his lips together as he nods. Tears finally start rolling down his eyes. "I'll be very quick; I'll grab a first aid kit, I'm sure William has one and I'll be back and I won't leave you. Alright?"

Kurt nods again. "Be quick?"

"As quick as I can," Dave assures him, and rushes out from the trailer.

He doesn't run though, since he can see from there that the entire circus crew is standing at the safe regular distance from Kurt's trailer, clearly waiting for news. Kurt got hurt, and the wound is nasty, but it was just an ordinary accident.

He doesn't want to scare his friends even more.

There's something else going on though, but Dave won't say anything about that since he's not sure what's going on with Kurt yet. Still, on his way to the camp, Dave really wishes for some peace. His heart is still beating hard and fast inside his chest and it's like ever since Kurt saw the girls' future, he's been constantly on the very edge; in a constant alarm state that is wearing him out.

"What happened? How is he? Is he alright?"

His friends corner him with those questions, and Dave understands but still he'd appreciate some space. "He tripped and fell against a glass," he explains, hoping that his friends will calm down. "He's got a nasty cut in his hand."

"I'll get the first aid kit," William says, walking away.

"That's it? Kurt's fine asides his hand," Rachel states, and it sounds like a question.

"Yes. I swear that's it."

All of them look suddenly more relieved. "We just though, I don't know, he had bad nightmares, or that maybe… you know, they had shown up. That he was being… taken," Mercedes tells him in a low voice, probably so William won't hear.

Dave didn't think about, but a shiver runs down his spine. "He's fine. Well, not fine since he has a bloody hand, but other than that, he's alright."

William returns with the first aid kit. "Let's hope he won't need stitches."

Dave hadn't thought about that either. What if Kurt needs real medical assistance? They can't take him to a hospital, or bring a doctor near to him. Shit… he really hopes he won't need stitches.

"I'll go back to him," Dave announces and heads back to Kurt's trailer.

He finds Kurt in the same place he left him, and he can swear that a relieved smile appears in his face when he sees in getting inside.

"You're back," Kurt says, sounding almost surprised.

"Of course I am, I told you so," Dave tells him, not annoyed at the lack of faith on him that Kurt seems to have, but trying to convince him that he won't let him down.

Dave proceeds to do his best with Kurt hand. He washes it first, getting all the water in Kurt's bucket bloody but he promises he'll get him clean water. It looks deep, every time Dave removes the towel from the wound it starts bleeding again.

"Shit," Dave mutters, taking a close look to the wound. "It might need stitches."

Kurt lets out a pained laugh. "As if. I'm the only one who knows how to sew in this place, and I don't think I'll be stitching my own hand with my wrong one."

Dave frowns, not getting it until he sees Kurt's right hand trembling. He surely got used to that since he doesn't even notice when Kurt's hand trembles any more, even if he hasn't spent so much time with Kurt yet.

He doesn't want to get too dark in this, since Kurt is doing a remarkably job at taking the pain. The idea of going to a hospital or even seeing a doctor doesn't even run through Kurt's mind, obviously and Dave can't really blame him.

Kurt goes all kinds of loud and desperate when Dave pours alcohol in his wound. They both know it's necessary, but Dave suffers with Kurt. The boy finally starts crying, breaking Dave's heart in a ton of pieces.

Dave has never really healed a wound, but since it starts taking longer until it bleeds again every time that Dave removes the towel, he decides to keep it there for longer, pressing on it.

"It will have to stop bleeding eventually."

Kurt nods, wiping his tears.

"I'm glad to see you up," Dave blurts out, getting Kurt's attention.

"I'm sorry for shutting you out," Kurt mumbles. "I swear, I don't have anything against you or something."

Dave stares at him, showing a small smile. "I know. Don't worry."

"Did… did William say anything? Did he found out something, about… you know?"

Dave swallows hard, knowing he's about to give Kurt no good news. "No; at least he hasn't said anything to me. I know he's been doing some calls but… no."

Kurt's eyes are suddenly teary again. "I'm scared, David."

"Me too," he admits quietly. "Me too. I spend most of my time here because I just can't deal with this, with them… the guys, facing them… I can't help thinking about what's going to happen, if it happens. At least, you know, even if you're asleep."

Kurt gives him a tender look. "I'm sorry I can't keep you company. I just can't deal with this."

Dave nods, understanding since if it's hard for him to deal with the knowledge of what might happen to them, he can't even imagine how must it be for Kurt, since he actually _saw_ all that stuff.

"It's fine," Dave tells him, inspecting the wound. It takes even longer to start bleeding so Dave resolves the pressure does good. "Now I'll wrap it up. Tight, so it doesn't get bloody again."

"Alright," he replies, yawning. Dave frowns at this, but he busies himself wrapping Kurt's hand with the bandage.

He's almost done when he can't help noticing that Kurt looks drowsy, and Dave just can't believe it; the boy just woke up! Maybe, since Dave has been helping putting the tent down but still, Kurt's been asleep for a long time like to be sleepy after a couple of hours awake.

"You want to sleep?" Dave asks, doubtfully when he's done with Kurt's hand, and proceeds to clean the mess.

"I'm sorry. I took a pill when you left," Kurt explains, apologetically.

Dave rolls his eyes to himself. "It's fine. Here, lay down," he pulls the covers, and Kurt gets underneath it, and Dave tucks him in. "You had a rough time, so have some rest. I'll wake you up later to change the bandages; we don't want it to get infected."

Kurt blinks, tiredly. "David?" Dave looks at him. "Thank you."

Dave presses his lips in a tight smile; he really wishes he could spend some more time with the boy. "You have nothing to thank me for."

And Kurt drifts into a heavy sleep; Dave sighs to himself, guessing that he'll he having more time by his own.

* * *

The following day, they are on the road again.

Dave didn't get to see Kurt awake again, so he actually changed his bandages when he was asleep.

He drives Kurt's trailer again, as they head to Marion. They are two days away from the city but it seems promising; the City Manager was actually in the show in Ashland and invited them to do two performances.

Dave continues in this weird mood, like a limbo where he feels trapped into. Nothing has changed; this is the third day after Kurt's visions and Dave feels that the anxiety in him is growing more intense, and while he does his best to remain calm, it's incredibly exhausting.

They drive most part of the morning, stopping to have lunch and then they continue driving until they decide to camp around afternoon, and they do it in the middle of an open field.

For some reason, Dave starts feeling uneasy as soon as he finishes parking his trailer next to Kurt's. He looks at his surroundings and it's a nice place; there's a small portion of woods near by, and some miles away, back to them, there's a farm or at least it seems so, with a large sown field and a couple of windmills.

It's almost relaxing and Dave would relax if it wasn't feeling so inexplicably uncomfortable; as if his body itched all over.

Rachel takes him to training, and he doesn't know how he does it, but he gets to unblock Rachel again, just for a second. He doesn't get excited though; he's feeling really upset. There's a knot in his stomach, like a bad feeling he can't shake it off that keeps on lingering ever since they set the camp.

"Davey, you've been away most of the time," Brittany points out, just when Dave was about to head to Kurt's trailer. "Why don't you sit around with us for a little while?"

If someone else was asking, Dave would probably decline the invitation. Yet, he has a soft spot for Brittany, since she's probably the most adorable girl he has ever met. She's always so kind, almost in a naïve way and Dave doesn't have the heart to say no to her.

So he nods at Brittany; his friends are gathered around in the empty dining table as Rachel decides to cook dinner. No one seems pleased about it, and Dave smiles for the first time in the day.

"You better don't ruin it!" Mike tells her, and turns to Dave. "It's the last meat we have until we get to Marion."

Dave smiles and then he frowns; he's having a huge déjà vu. He shakes his head quickly, and he frowns again when Al Bowlly's _Goodnight Sweetheart_ starts playing in the background. Sebastian, Noah, Tina and Brittany are sitting around him, about to play cards and cheer at the music.

"It's been long since we've listened to this record," Tina says. "I love it."

Artie approaches to them, wheeling himself in his chair wearing a happy grin. "I knew you'd like my music choice. The very best of Al Bowlly's collection. You don't like him, Dave? You're frowning."

"Oh, sorry," Dave apologizes, since he actually likes Al Bowlly. "I was just thinking; I enjoy his music a lot though. You sure we haven't listened to him lately?"

Dave has the feeling he heard about the guy not long ago.

"You want to play?" Noah asks him, pointing at the cards in Sebastian's hand.

"Hum, no. I think I'll pass," Dave tells him, and he looks at his surroundings until his eyes fall upon the windmills.

Two windmills, Dave notices. He fidgets on his place, as the bad feeling starts growing inside him. He can't explain what's going on, but he frowns yet again as he stares at them, with an urgent feeling of having experienced this at some point.

The itching is back, and so is the uneasiness. There's something going on, and he can't really explain what is it; maybe he's about to go down with a flu or something.

"Look guys! I found some paint in the equipment trailer," Finn walks by, looking incredible excited. He's holding a small can of red paint and Dave's blood turns cold.

Finn's holding a freaking can of _red paint._

"I think I'll change my trailer's look," Finn continues, with a proud grin.

"Shit," Dave mumbles, as his chest constricts in a painful way and his heart starts beating incredibly fast. He would start trembling, if he wasn't frozen in panic.

There's a reason why Dave believes this happened already and it's because Kurt told him about this.

This is how it starts.

Dave gets on his feet and starts speeding towards Kurt's trailer, ignoring his friends who are calling for him, obviously startled at Dave's sudden weird behavior. He needs to talk with Kurt, and hell, he'll slap him awake if he needs to, but they must talk; urgently. Only Kurt can confirm Dave's worst fears, and he really doesn't think that there's nothing to confirm since he's aware that Kurt is incredibly accurate about the future, but Dave hopes that the Dalton people are not really coming right now.

Much to his surprise, when he storms inside Kurt's trailer, the boy is not asleep. He looks sleepy though, and he doesn't even flinch when Dave gets inside his trailer. Kurt is simply sitting in his bed, leant against the wall and peeking outside his window through its curtains.

"It's starting," Kurt mumbles, sounding completely wretched.

Dave's heart sinks; he feels dizzy and the desperation starts devouring his guts. "Kurt," he says, not really knowing what to say. The boy looks up to him, and the back to the window.

"I've never seen windmills," Kurt whispers. "Not for real though. They are pretty."

Dave is not sure if he wants to cry, or start yelling or just simply take Kurt away from this place. He approaches to the boy, and sits on the bed in front of him. "We'll fix this," he states, trying to believe his own words.

Kurt looks at him again, giving him an almost pity smile. "No one did anything to change the future, David. It's too late. They're coming in awhile."

Dave tries to remain calm, not letting the fear overpower him. "You know when they are coming?"

The boy shrugs, and leans back to his mattress. "The sun is going down. When they arrived, it was dark already but I don't know how late it was."

Shit. It could be in half an hour, or in five hours. Dave does his best to think straight and he can't come up with any solution.

"Do you mind if I take a nap?" Kurt asks faintly. "I took some pills; I don't want to be awake when this happens."

Dave holds Kurt's hand, and much to his surprise, Kurt squeezes it tightly. In spite of his obviously drowsy state, given for the pills he's already taken, he's as scared as he is.

"I won't let them take you," Dave swears to him. He doesn't know where that came from, and he's aware that his first instinct is lately to protect Kurt, but he actually means it.

"It doesn't matter. I won't feel anything this way," the boy says, with a sleepy voice. "I won't have to hear my friends suffering outside, unable to do something. I won't feel the future taking me away; next time I wake up, I'll be lost in the future."

"No, you won't. I'll fix this, I promise," Dave says firmly. "Sleep now. You won't wake up in the future."

Kurt nods, not really believing him and the he shuts his eyes. Dave doesn't wait for him to fall asleep, since they don't have much time. Instead, Dave runs back to the camp and this time, he won't let his friends believe that they can somehow fight the Dalton people. They need to do something, other than waiting for these guys.

Everyone is giving him weird looks, and it doesn't surprise Dave; he's running from one place to the other, and when he reaches the camp he's almost out of breath.

"Are you alright David? Is Kurt alright?" Sebastian is the first one asking.

Dave shakes his head no, trying to regain some air. "They're coming; this is how it starts; the windmills, the red paint, Al Bowlly-"

"You know more about the future," Mercedes states.

His friends have a moment of fear, showing scared faces. But then Santana shrugs. "So? We'll kick their asses."

"No, we won't kick their asses! They'll kick ours," Dave tells them, almost enraged. "We have to leave this place."

William and Rachel show up from behind the trailers; Rachel looking embarrassed and William frowns when he sees all of them together. "Kids, I need to head to the town. Rachel-"

"Mixed sugar with salt and ruined the meat," Dave finishes his words; everyone looks at him with wary eyes, even William.

"Yes…" The elder man says quietly. "I was about to ask you if you wanted to come with me, so we can catch up. Rachel told me about your training, I'm sorry I haven't been-"

"This is why you're not in the future; you're in town," Dave cuts him off, realizing that. "And why I'm not either… I went with you. That's why everyone could use their abilities."

"What's going on?" Rachel enquires.

"Dave says the Dalton guys are coming," Finn tells her gloomily. Just like with his friends, Rachel and William look scared at first, but then their faces ease.

"Then… if I stay-"

"No, we can't stay here!" Dave yells at them. "William, you won't talk them out of this! And you can't fight against them! They outnumber us!"

It's different now, because it's like they are all scared but trying to act like they're not. Even the ones who look defiant, they show worried eyes every now and then.

"David, please calm down," William tells him, and he doesn't sound very calm himself.

Dave groans in frustration and decides to go for it. "They're going to take Rachel," he says quietly; Rachel fidgets in her place, and they exchange alarmed glances. "They also hurt Sam pretty badly, if not kill him," Mercedes gasps. "And for sure, they kill Lily," Santana wraps her arms around Brittany.

This does scare him for real, and Dave feels a little achieved. "They're violent; they only fight to us, they're coming to take you in the bad way, since you didn't want to join you before, so it's not like things went out of control, William," he says, and he starts growing anxious since they're wasting precious time. "And you cannot fight them; I know for sure it doesn't turn out well, and that's because there's too many of them."

There's a second of silence, and then there's almost like an explosion of concern, since all his friends start bombing William with questions about what they're going to do.

Dave takes a sit, letting out a relieved sighs as he hears all his friends discussing and talking out loud. He let it out; all of it and he hates himself, since maybe, if he had told everything on the first place, his friends would have been forced to plan something else than 'kicking the Dalton boys' asses.'

It's something though, and Dave looks at the sunset, fidgeting in his place almost fearing the night time.

"Kids! Kids! Please, quiet!" William cuts them all off, looking exasperated. "David, do you know when they are coming?"

Dave shakes his head. "Kurt said it was night," he says, and it doesn't help much.

William nods, and paces around, obviously trying to figure out something. At least he's not thinking about talking with the Dalton people out of their attack. No one says nothing, as if they're letting the older man think.

After a few minutes of silence, William speaks up. "We need to split."

"What?" everyone asks at the same time.

"We're stronger than them, but they outnumber us," William says hurriedly. "If we split, we force them to split and if they try to do something, we'll fight them back."

Dave frowns, not sure about this. "Divide and conquer? We'll grow weaker if we split!"

"No, they grow weaker if they split," William replies, as he already starts packing the table. "Kids, you need to pack everything now!"

In one second, everyone is going from one place to the other, cleaning the camp. Dave is already nervous again, following William. "William, we can't-"

"David, you have to take Kurt with you," William stays in his place, staring at him with a serious face. Rachel, Sebastian and Noah were passing by, and stop in their places.

"What?"

"We'll split strategically, and it doesn't matter to you right now," William continues. "But you need to take Kurt with you, now."

"We're in freaking Kansas! Where am I supposed to take him?"

"Away. You must take him away. Noah, go grab some of Artie's clothes and pack some stuff for Kurt, those will fit him. He can't wear his own clothes, they are too striking," William tells Noah, and the guy nods, already running to his and Artie's trailer. "David, you take your truck, and take Kurt with you. You're the only one that Kurt can be out in public."

"In public?" Dave asks, taken aback. "William, what the hell-"

"They won't go anywhere near you if there's people around," Sebastian intercedes, talking in the same urgent way than William is talking to him. "Just like us, they won't use their abilities in public."

"Kurt can't be in public!"

"It will be worse if he's with the Dalton people," William tells him. "He'll be scared, but David you must take him to crowded places and keep the lowest profile you can, until we figure this out. Now go pack your stuff, quick and meet me by Kurt's trailer. Go, David!"

Dave does what William says, and as everyone is packing the camp in record time, David runs to his trailer, grabbing some clothes and other stuff he could need, out of his nervousness since the rational part of his brain is against this plan. What will he win by taking Kurt away? Kurt gets pretty bad when he sees more than three people together; what the hell is going to do with Kurt in a crowded place? And how they're supposed to keep a low profile if Kurt acts all crazy when they're with people?

He doesn't want to stay all by himself with Kurt; he's not sure if he can deal with what that means.

Dave puts all he can gather in the back of his truck, and he sees William and Rachel approaching to his trailer, that's right next to Kurt's. William is carrying a stuffed sailor bag, the one that puts in the back of Dave truck's as well.

"Now, David, this is what you'll do," William says, writing something in a notepad. "You take Kurt now, and try to head to the east coast. There are bigger cities over there; never stay in the same place more for more than three days. If the Dalton people are out in the hunt, they might be after us for awhile. Until we know different, that's what you'll do. Every time you reach a phone, call here," he says, handing the notepad to Dave and he sees a phone number written down. "You'll contact Emma, and you'll tell her where you are, and how you're doing. She'll give you news about us."

Dave nods, since apparently he's really doing this.

"Here, have this," Rachel says, handing a wallet filled with money.

"What? This is-"

"That's most of our savings," William cuts Dave off. "We'll be able to get some money, but neither of you will. It's almost around a hundred and fifty dollars, so you can afford gas, food and hotel rooms. We don't know for how long we'll have to be this way, hopefully not for long but just in case, take it all."

Dave nods again, trying to absorb all the instructions.

"It's dangerous, William. I don't think I can do this with Kurt."

"It will be hard for Kurt, but he'll be safest with you," Rachel tells him, and Dave can't believe she's telling him that. That she's actually agreeing to put Kurt in the open; she's the one who's more overprotective towards the boy. Hell, everyone is incredible overprotective towards Kurt. How can they consider this a good idea? "Asides Jesse and Blaine, none of the Dalton boys know even how Kurt looks like. And they don't know about your existence either. We can't take him with us, or we'll drag the Dalton boy's attention towards him, just like we can't isolate him if we're running away. You can keep him away from people's future."

Dave realizes that he's really screwed. They have a good point, but it's a huge responsibility. He doesn't even know Kurt that much, and now they'll be forced to stay together, away and in public. How is this even going to work?

"I'm aware that this is too much," William tells him, obviously figuring out Dave's worries. "But I wouldn't ask you this, if I thought you can't do it."

Dave swallows hard. "What about you all?"

William offers him a kind smile. "We'll be fine, you don't worry about us. Call Emma, and you'll have news about us. Now go and pick Kurt, you leave first and don't look back, alright?"

Dave nods again, and gets inside Kurt's trailer. The boy is deeply asleep; before picking Kurt up, he takes Kurt's record player and some records. Kurt might like it, if they get to spend some time in hotel rooms; Dave also takes some sleeping pills and the chloroform, knowing how Kurt relies on them. Dave is only thinking about what will make Kurt feel more comfortable, knowing that the boy will be deeply upset once they find themselves on the road. He puts the player, the records and the pills in his truck and gets inside the trailer again, this time picking the boy in his arms.

Kurt doesn't even flinch, unable to realize that he's being taken away from the comfort zone that his trailer means to him. Dave understands why Kurt knocked himself out; instead of Dave, the Dalton boys could be the ones dragging Kurt out, just like he's doing. Hopefully, when Kurt wakes up, he'll be at least relieved about not having woken up in the future.

Rachel and William are waiting for him outside; William opens the passenger door of his truck, giving him room to put Kurt inside.

"Take care of him, please?" Rachel tells him, and Dave nods.

"I'll keep him safe," Dave promises.

She gives him a tight hug, and so does William. "Now go. And remember what I said: call Emma, don't stay in the same place for more than three days, pick large towns and cities. Low profile, David."

"Got it," Dave says, getting on his truck. He turns the engine and the sun is almost down.

He fears for himself and for Kurt; he fears for his friends. Dave drives through the almost deserted camp; his friends are around, but everything is packed. All of them nod, smile and wave their hands to him, as if they're all wishing him luck. Dave smiles back at them and once he passes the camp, he speeds towards the road, leaving the circus behind and hoping they'll be safe and that they'll all meet again soon.

As he hits the road, he feels completely alone and lost. Kurt is sleeping by his side, on the passenger seat and Dave doesn't even know where to drive. He quickly decides to take the same route they took while heading to Marion, as if he's going back to Ashland. They're in the Midwest, there are not a lot of big cities; instead, there are plenty of deserted routes and small towns.

He's not very sure about the roads he should take either, in order to head to the East coast and there are plenty of days of driving to reach the East coast; for how long are they going to run away?

Dave looks at Kurt's sleeping figure and he doesn't dare yet to feel achieved for being able to keep him away from the Dalton boys. They've just left the camp; they could run into them at any minute.

The sun goes down completely, and the route is almost dark. Dave tries to figure out what to do next; for a second he thinks about going back to Ashland, but he quickly abandons that idea since people in Ashland has seen him, and he's a circus member. That could call people's attention and no one is supposed to know he's part of a circus; the Dalton people would figure out.

There's a very small town about an hour from where they camped; probably where William wanted to go with him to get more meat to replace the one that Rachel ruined. Kurt is knocked out, Dave must use that in his advantage. The boy will have a major freak out when he wakes up somewhere not his bed, and his trailer.

They passed several small towns since they left Ashland. Dave should buy some food, and find a hotel while Kurt's asleep.

Dave drives for over and hour until he arrives to Greensburg; he's driving for its main road trying to find some groceries' store that might be open, and thankfully he finds one. He parks in front of the store, and it's hard for him to leave Kurt alone, but he can't take the boy with him.

He quickly gets out from his car, always glancing at the car, even once he gets into the store. Being as fast as he can, Dave grabs canned orange juice, pet evaporated milk, some Campbell's chicken noodle and cream of mushroom soups, Ritz Crackers, a few Mars bars, Pepperidge Farm bread, Frito corn chips, Wonder Bread, and most of these are not the healthiest things to eat, but it's something considering they can't cook, and that Dave just can't take Kurt to some dinner.

Dave also buys a couple of Tootsie Pops, just to have something to eat while driving. He'd kill for a couple of smokes though.

"Do you know where could I find a hotel to spend the night?" Dave asks to the clerk, as he's paying for his stuff.

"Around forty minutes from here, you'll find Pratt. It's a pretty big city, I'm sure you'll find something there."

Big city; that sounds good.

"Thank you. Have a good night," Dave says, leaving the store.

Just when he's walking in the sidewalk towards his car, he sees a convoy of very expensive cars, driving by in front of him. Dave starts trembling, and while he was about to run back to his truck and drive away, he keeps his pace, walking slowly towards his vehicle, not to raise suspicions. No one is watching after all.

Dave counts six cars, going one after the other, with at least four people inside and he's sure that those are the Dalton people. All the cars looked incredibly expensive, and it's not just coincidence that a bunch of rich people are driving on the main road of a small town in south Kansas.

Dave gets into his truck, watching the convoy of flashy cars driving away from them, and Kurt is still there, with him, asleep. The anxiety makes him tremble, and he hopes that his friends will be alright.

It took him more than an hour to drive here to Greensburg, and that means that there's at least another hour until the Dalton people get to the camp; if the camp is still there. Hopefully, his friends have left the camp and they won't run into the Dalton guys.

Dave turns the engine on, and drives in the opposite direction to where the Dalton people just drove. He starts growing tired, but he only has to drive for another forty minutes; he'll reach a bigger city and they'll be safer there.

Dave could really use some sleep, even if he's not sure if he should wait until Kurt wakes up. He doesn't want to think about the moment when Kurt wakes up.

Just as the clerk told him, Dave arrives to Pratt around forty minutes later. The city is quiet, probably because it's night time, and he's driving on a residential part of the city, but he sees plenty of people around when he reaches the downtown. He stops to ask for directions towards some hotel, and some citizens politely give him directions.

Five minutes later, Dave finds himself parked in front of a very fancy hotel and he's not sure about getting a room in there. Not only because it looks expensive –seriously, that people didn't see the state of his truck? Why did they think he would be able to afford such a fancy hotel?- but also because it's somewhere where the Dalton people might stay.

The Dalton guys won't spend the night just anywhere, either their plan goes wrong or right; being them so fancy, rich and elegant, and being this the biggest city near to New Direction's camp, they could come here later.

So Dave drives away from that hotel, taking random streets, looking for a better place to stay, and he's almost reaching the city borders when he finds another hotel that looks much better for them. It's a motel, for starters; the reception is dethatched from the rooms and Dave will be able to get Kurt into a room without looking suspicious.

Once again, it makes him uncomfortable to leave Kurt alone but he has to, so Dave rushes to the motel's reception. An old lady comes out from behind the counter.

"May I help you, young man?"

Dave smiles at her. "Yes, 'mam. I was wondering if you have a room to spend the night?"

"Sure thing my boy. Is just for you?"

"No. I'm… with a friend," he says, pointing at the truck. From the window of the reception, he can see Kurt in the passenger seat. "He had… a few drinks. First time in his life, he can't hold his alcohol," he lies, since he'll have to drag Kurt inside the room and saying that he passed out from alcohol is something much more normal than saying that his friend took lots of sleeping pills.

The old lady chuckles. "These boys nowadays. A double bed then."

"That would be it, yes."

She turns around, picking one of the keys hanging on the wall. There are several of them taken, and knowing that there's going to be people around relaxes Dave.

"Here. Room 14," she says, handing him the key. "It would be 3,30 dollars the night. You're not from here, aren't you?"

Dave takes the wallet that William gave to him, and pays the lady. "No, 'mam. Me and my friend are heading to Oklahoma," he lies again, just in case. "We both have family over there."

"Oh, that's nice. Well, I hope you both have a good night."

"Night to you too, and thank you."

Dave leaves the reception, getting into his truck just to park it in front of the room 14, which is just a few feet away. After turning the engine off, Dave grabs some of his clothes and the sailor bag that Rachel gave him. Kurt is still on his pajamas, and he'll have to use normal clothes tomorrow. A boy wearing his pajamas on public would attract a lot attention.

He checks on his room, placing the clothes and the food he bought inside; then he returns to his truck, and gets Kurt in his arms. The boy remains deeply asleep, and Dave has no issues taking the boy inside the room.

Dave carefully places Kurt in one of the beds, covering him with the blankets. He sighs, feeling incredible tired. He looks around, and he smiles when he finds a bathroom; it's been so long since he's been on a real bathroom, not the small one he has in his trailer. He walks towards it, and he smiles even wider when he sees the faucets since it's good to have plumbing after so much time.

He washes his face and his teeth before returning to the room; feeling sleepy, Dave proceeds to lock the doors and the windows, closing the curtains. Just in case, Dave takes the flowers of a decorative vase, and places the empty vase on the handle of the door. If someone tries to open the door, he'll quickly notice as soon as the vase falls to the grown and breaks.

Dave changes his clothes, and he gets into his bed. After glancing at Kurt one last time, Dave turns the lights off.

He has his head filled with thoughts; he wonders how his friends are doing, and if they got away on time. He wonders what was the Dalton people's reaction at finding a –maybe- deserted camp, or even at not finding Kurt, in case they found the circus people. And then, Dave wonders how the hell Kurt is going to cope with the sudden twist of their fates; surely it won't be pretty.

In spite of the overwhelming thoughts, Dave sighs and starts falling asleep. He can use some rest. After all, this is going to be a very difficult trip.


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: **I'm happy to tell you that we have a new beta (Ella Greggs, you're the world to me right now!), who's also beta'ing the previous chapters of this fic, and also the previous chapters of About Trees and Empty Forests.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Dave hardly sleeps during the night and when he wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, Kurt is still unconscious. He's unsure how Kurt will react when he wakes up in a strange place, in a strange city. It's more than likely Kurt's reaction will be far from good.

Kurt will have to wake up at some point, though, and remain awake, since Dave can't really walk around, carrying a sleepy Kurt all over the country. Still, he doesn't even want to imagine how it's going to be traveling around with Kurt wide awake.

Something as simple as booking a hotel room could be quite difficult with what Dave assumes will be a beyond distraught Kurt.

The sun is barely rising, and Dave decides to take a quick shower – amazed that he has a shower so handy - and leave Pratt while Kurt is still asleep. They are only about two hours from the circus camp, and this city could be the first place the Dalton guys look when they don't find Kurt there.

In the middle of getting dressed, he suddenly sits down on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands, because worry overwhelms him when he thinks about his friends. He shakes his head quickly, though, because right now he must keep Kurt safe and that means that they have to leave before Kurt wakes up.

Kurt will probably make some kind of scene if he wakes up in public, surrounded by people, and they can't raise suspicions since they are not far enough from the Dalton people, or so Dave assumes.

Dave opens the door of their room, peeking outside, and there's no one around, so he hurries to put all their bags in his truck, leaving the passenger door open. Seconds later, Dave leaves the room with Kurt in his arms, placing him in his seat, and hurries to the reception, which is as deserted as the streets. Not really knowing what to do, Dave just leaves the room key on the counter.

Luckily, Kurt remains asleep, but then Dave wonders how many pills the boy took. He continues sleeping peacefully for the next two hours. When he finally starts to stir, Dave's heart almost stops.

He realizes his eyes are more fixed on Kurt than on the road and what's even worse is that they're in Wichita now; it's still early in the morning so the streets are not crowded, but that doesn't make it any better. He's very well aware of how Kurt's life is; Kurt is used to seeing open fields when they camp and the cars and trailers of his friends at a far distance. Dave doesn't even know when Kurt last saw streets, tall buildings and lots of people walking around.

He parks his truck on the side of some road – he's not really paying attention to the route and he's never been in Wichita before, either, so it's not like it matters where he is.

He looks only at Kurt, who now starts moving slowly.

"Kurt?" Dave calls to him softly, not wanting to startle the kid. "Hey, Kurt?"

Kurt sighs deeply and almost comfortably, blinking slowly a couple of times. Then he goes completely still with his eyes fixed on the road in front of him. Dave stays silent and within seconds Kurt starts breathing erratically, obviously freaking out.

"Hey, it's alright," Dave tries to calm him down, but the boy flinches when he hears Dave's voice and finally turns around to see him.

Kurt's staring at him with wide eyes, gasping, and Dave notices that the kid is holding on to the seat so hard his knuckles are bloodless white. "David?" Kurt whispers, sounding as terrified as he looks. "We- what-"

A car passes next to them. The driver blows the horn at another car crossing the intersection and Kurt literally jumps in his seat, completely startled. Some ladies on the sidewalk pass by them and their chatting makes Kurt jump again, and he suddenly starts struggling like he's trying to get out of the car and escape from everything. The boy is desperately seeking the knob to open the door, and that can't be any good.

"Kurt, Kurt!" Dave calls, launching himself at the boy and holding him tight and still. "It's alright, I know we're out in the open but nothing's going to happen to you."

Kurt clings to Dave, burying his face in Dave's chest. "It's too much. David, I'm scared. The future," Kurt gasps, almost sobbing. "Make it go away."

Dave frowns. "You're not seeing any future now, right?"

The boy shakes his head. "But I might. Look at this place! I don't want to be here! It's too much! Too dangerous! Please, David!"

Dave's not sure what Kurt wants from him, or how he can help Kurt; he can't make their surroundings just vanish and he's not going to put Kurt to sleep yet again. It can't be healthy for Kurt to be constantly drugged.

"Listen, I can drive us away from here," Dave offers, feeling anxious. He needs to make Kurt feel better and he certainly doesn't have a lot of options. "To a quieter place. You won't see any future, I'm here next to you."

Kurt doesn't look up, keeping his face buried in Dave's chest, avoiding the sight of the city and the open streets. "I'm scared."

Dave tries to push Kurt away so he can look at him, and he almost has to fight the guy since Kurt doesn't seem willing to detach himself from Dave. "Kurt, look at me," Dave commands and finally pushes the boy away just a few inches.

But Kurt's frightened eyes are roaming everywhere else, his attention being drawn by every little thing around them. Dave puts his hands on each side of Kurt's face, on his temples, blocking his view so the boy can only look at what's in front of him, namely Dave.

"Look at me," Dave repeats, feeling how Kurt is tugging his shirt tightly.

"Why are we here?" Kurt inquires with eyes filled with tears and a broken voice.

"I'll explain to you later, but now I'll get us out of here," Dave replies, since he has a lot to explain and he won't be able to say much while Kurt's in this shaken state.

"Is this now?"

Dave frowns, not understanding what Kurt means. "Now what?"

Kurt's eyes rove around, as if he was pointing out their surroundings to Dave . "The present."

Dave swallows hard. "Yes. This is the present."

Kurt nods quietly. "I don't want to see it," he says, choking back a sob. "I don't like seeing it."

"Let me drive us away from here, alright? You need to give me some room so I can drive," he adds, since Kurt's not moving over.

The boy looks even more frightened, if that's possible. "If I let you go, the future will get me."

"I'm right here, Kurt, next to you. Nothing's going to happen," Dave assures him, wishing that Kurt would accept the fact that he can block people standing much further away than the distance that's between the two of them right now.

With a lot of effort, Dave manages to move Kurt away so he can start the car; Kurt ends up curled onto a ball on his seat, with his head bent over, eyes shut tight to avoid seeing anything, and holding Dave's shirt with one hand - his injured hand. Dave notices that there's blood in his shirt and on Kurt's hand.

The wound on the boy's hand must have opened again because of all the clutching Kurt did, and Dave can't really change the bandages now. Kurt's so tense and distressed that he doesn't seem aware of the blood or any pain.

So Dave starts the car and immediately Kurt starts hyperventilating again, scared of all the sounds he's hearing. Dave gives up; he turns around to reach for his bag, startling Kurt all over again.

"Where are you going?" Kurt asks, terrified. "Don't go! Please don't leave me-"

"Easy, Kurt, easy. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just getting my bag," Dave cuts him off, taking his bag from the backseat. "I won't give you a pill but-"

"You have my pills? Oh, thank God!" Kurt breathes out, obviously relieved.

"I'm not letting you sleep through the whole day," he says and Kurt's face falls. "I'll drive us away and find a hotel where we can stay for a couple days."

"But-"

"I can't carry your sleeping body around," he explains, hoping he can reason with Kurt. "Not in public."

Kurt looks devastated. "What about chloroform? Just a bit? Please, David. The effect doesn't last as long as with the pills if I don't use much. You can wake me up if you shake me hard."

Dave actually hates that one even more, since he remembers that at some point Kurt ended up in the hospital for overdosing. Still, Kurt knows better about his own drugs than Dave, so he looks inside the bag and in the process sees a first aid kit in there as well. William must have packed it, since Dave had completely forgotten about Kurt's injured hand and he kind of needs to dress his wound soon.

But he takes the brown bottle out of the bag first and Kurt holds it as if it's pure gold.

"Oh, God, yes," Kurt whispers, showing a relieved smile, as Dave takes an old cloth from the glove compartment and hands it to Kurt.

The boy immediately opens the bottle with shaky hands, still ignoring his bloody hand, and pours just a little of the colorless liquid on the fabric, then gives the bottle back to Dave. Then Kurt brings the cloth to his nose, inhaling deeply, and he instantly starts fainting in his seat.

Dave sighs, not pleased in the slightest. He decides to change the bandage on Kurt's hand right now and then get the hell out of there. The cut has opened again, so he cleans it and wraps the bandages tight enough to stop the bleeding. Having no place to dispose of them, he drops the blood stained bandages in the backseat and drives on.

As he drives away from Wichita, Dave starts thinking hard. It's been not even one full day since they left the circus, but Dave has to figure out something because he doesn't know how long they'll be on the run. William told him not to stay in the same place for long, to stay in hotels, and to call some woman named Emma as often as they could. Kurt can't be knocked out all the time, particularly if the main goal of running away is to pass unnoticed. Dave needs to have some kind of plan.

He drives for around an hour, and finds himself on a pretty deserted road when he sees a gas station in the distance. He decides to make a quick stop, since his tank is almost empty. Kurt's asleep, so he might as well use the time to his advantage.

Dave parks his car right next to the gas pump; the station looks pretty much like the one he used to work at, but bigger and cleaner. There's a blind man, sitting by the door with a tin cup in his hand; he's wearing dark glasses and his white cane is resting against the wall by his side. Dave passes by him, walking inside the store.

A young boy of fifteen or sixteen greets him. "Hello, sir."

Lord, Dave's only twenty-four and he suddenly feels old. "Hello. I was…" he trails off as his eyes fall upon a phone booth in one corner. He blinks. "I need some gas, and… Does the phone work?"

"Yes, sir. You need me to fill your tank?"

"Oh, no I can do it, no worries," Dave replies, since, Jesus, he knows how to fill a tank! "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"I'm not from around here and I was wondering… is there any city or town nearby?"

The boy nods eagerly. "You have Topeka just an hour from here, just follow route 335 North. Or there's Wichita, but I'm guessing that's where you're coming from."

Dave offers the boy a polite smile and nods. Topeka sounds good; as far as he knows, it's a big place and they could stay there for a couple of days. He leaves the store and proceeds to fill the tank; he stares at the old blind man and a possibly good idea hits his brain.

He looks at Kurt, who's fast asleep, and he knows how hard it will be for the boy to deal with being out in the world. Dave has seen it repeatedly, and he still remembers how frightened Kurt looked when he saw his friends crowding into his trailer, or today when he saw all the people in the streets, the buildings and the cars.

Dave also remembers when Kurt had his visions of the Dalton boys; Dave managed to calm him down, just a bit, by covering his eyes so the boy wouldn't have such a frightening view in front of him.

Dave finishes filling his tank, and gets the wallet and the notepad from his bag. He returns to the store and tells the boy he's going to use the phone; the boy nods, and Dave stands in the booth, craning his neck so he can still see the car clearly.

Without taking his eyes off Kurt, Dave dials the number William wrote for him, and after a few rings, he hears the voice of what sounds like a young lady.

"Pillsbury residence."

"Er.. Good morning," he greets, not knowing what to say. "My name is David; William gave-"

"Oh, David! It's so good to hear from you!" she exclaims, surprising him. Does she know him? "I was dead worried. How is Kurt? Are you both alright?"

Dave has no idea who the hell this lady is, but she seems to know about them both. At the same time, there are people hunting them, so Dave's not sure if he should trust a stranger.

"Um… I'm sorry; I don't want to be rude but… who are you?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Didn't William tell you I'm a… friend. I know pretty much everything about you all; Will always talks about you guys and how... extraordinary you are. So you don't have to worry, all your secrets are safe with me."

Dave feels a bit more relaxed; she must be one of them. "Kurt's… just sleeping; he woke up in the city and got pretty upset. I haven't told him what went down, yet, he's been way too stressed."

"Poor thing."

"Do you know about the others? If they are alright?" Dave can't help asking, and he immediately stops breathing, expecting the worse.

"They are all safe," she tells him and a wave of relief washes over him.

"Oh, thank God."

"Yes. Santana showed up here early in the morning to let me know. They all split up, but she checked on everyone," Emma explains. "Her gift is pretty handy at times like these, I guess. They're all worried about you two, so I'm glad I'll be able to give them good news."

Dave nods, even if she can't see him. "So they're all safe, right?"

"They managed to run away before the Dalton people got to the camp," she tells him. "William stayed nearby, though, hiding in the woods with Artie, Noah, Brittany and Lily. It's hard to pass unnoticed when you are towing a tiger's cage. They saw them arriving, the Dalton guys were pretty upset to find a deserted camp. William and his group are heading here now, so they can hide Lily here. I guess they'll arrive in a few days. I've got news from all the other kids and they're alright."

"Good. That's good."

"Except Sebastian," she says with a sad voice and Dave's stomach flips.

"What? What happened to him?"

Emma sighs on the other end of the line. "I think he decided to join the Dalton gang; you know, because of Blaine. They all split up very fast into small groups and it was messy at first. It wasn't until Santana started checking on the guys that she realized that Sebastian wasn't with any of them. He must have stayed behind."

Dave runs his hand over his face; he can't believe this. "Shit."

"It was always a possibility; Sebastian and Blaine… well, you know."

"Yeah, I guess. It doesn't make it any better, though," Dave says, and he wonders if he should tell Kurt about this. He doesn't want to upset Kurt more and he doesn't know how close Kurt and Sebastian were.

But at least none of them are hurt and that's what matters most.

"We think the Dalton people are still around, looking for you all. They split up as well, or so Will believes, trying to track the New Directions groups. You need to be careful, David."

"I'm heading to Topeka now; we'll get a room and stay there for a couple of days so I can explain what happened to Kurt and see if I can… I don't know, figure some way for him to be less scared."

"That's good. Topeka is a large city; try to lay low and call me as soon as you can. I'll give you news about the others, and I will give them news about you."

"Alright. Nice talking to you," he says truthfully, since even if he doesn't know her, it's like talking to someone from the circus, and for a little while he doesn't feel so alone.

"You too. Take care, and I'll be waiting for your next call."

"Bye, Emma."

"Bye, David."

He hangs up. His friends are safe and that's a huge relief; Dave wasn't aware of how distressed he was, worrying about his friends, until now, when he feels like he can breathe in peace again. He feels like he just got rid of a heavy rock that was pressing on his chest.

It's terrible what happened with Sebastian, and he can't understand how Sebastian could choose to leave with people who planned to hurt them, but at the same time, he can't really be mad at him. His friends have mentioned on multiple occasions how close Blaine and Sebastian were, and how wretched Sebastian was when Blaine left.

It's obvious now that Sebastian could never get over the guy, and that he must love Blaine tremendously if he decided to join the Dalton boys because of him.

Dave walks to the counter and pays for the gas. "What's with the old man by the door?"

"He's Mister Balk," the boy tells him. "My neighbor. He's alright. Since he became blind and lost his job, he comes here asking for change to help his daughters. It's a tough break in this economy."

Dave nods. "Yeah. Have a good day."

"You too, sir."

When Dave leaves the store, the blind old man is still there, sitting on a stool by the door. His white cane is resting against the wall. Dave feels horrible for what he's about to do, but he needs to keep Kurt safe. To achieve that, Dave has to at least figure out a way to disguise Kurt's 'craziness' from people.

The old man seems to realize that he's not alone. "Can you spare some change?" he asks politely.

"Sure, here" he says, placing a ten dollar bill in the old man's hand.

The blind man looks suddenly surprised, probably because he usually only gets a few coins. "A dollar, sir?" he asks.

Dave moves in closer, trying not to make a sound, and silently picks up the white cane. "It's a ten."

"A ten? Oh, sir! You're very generous! Are you sure?"

Dave hides the white cane behind his back, just in case the boy comes out and sees him stealing it from an old blind man. "I'm sure. Have a nice day."

"Thank you so much, sir!"

Dave sees the old man put the ten bucks in one of his pockets with a huge smile on his face. Ten dollars is a lot of money nowadays, so Dave hopes that will compensate the man for the loss of his cane and any trouble he has replacing it.

Dave gets back in his truck and starts the engine, feeling relieved now that he has what could be a good plan. He drives just for half an hour, and parks the truck on the side of the road. Kurt has been sleeping for almost two hours, and Dave decides that he's not going to drive into another large city with a passed out Kurt.

He waits ten minutes and then he gets tired of waiting for Kurt to wake up, so he starts shaking him gently. "Kurt? Kurt, c'mon, wake up," he says in a firm voice.

Kurt was right about the chloroform, since he quickly starts stirring and he blinks lazily, like he's trying to focus. He looks quite drowsy, so Dave gives him a couple of minutes to come back to himself and when Kurt does, it's just like it was a couple of hours ago: the boy jumps in place and starts hyperventilating again.

Dave rolls his eyes; this is going to be a very long trip.

He holds the boy, trying to comfort him. "It's alright; it's an open space, I know, but no one's around, see? We're alone."

Kurt nods, but he doesn't look any more relaxed. Once again, the guy is pressed to Dave's chest and Dave has to admit that he's getting used to having no personal space when Kurt's around.

"Where are we?" Kurt finally asks.

"We're still in Kansas, heading to Topeka. I'll explain everything to you later, but we should find a room soon and we can stay there for a couple of days."

"Why are we here? What happened? Where is everyone?"

"Everyone's fine, you don't have to worry about that. As for us, William asked me to get you safely away," Dave explains quietly. "The Dalton boys are looking for us." Kurt's breathing starts picking up again. "We're going to be alright, but I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"You're not going to like this," Dave mumbles under his breath, staring at the road and hoping that no cars pass by. Kurt is doing a remarkable job, since in the last couple of minutes the kid hasn't jumped in place once. "We'll have to stay in crowded cities, and William said we have to keep a low profile since those guys are after us."

"Oh, God," Kurt whispers, sounding broken. "I won't be able to-"

"We can do it," Dave assures him. "Remember when I brought you back to your trailer the day you ran into the open? What you saw scared you, and I covered your eyes so you wouldn't be so scared?"

Kurt nods. "But you can't cover my eyes all time, David; that's not low profile. I don't want to be around people… I won't be able to not go crazy."

"I have an idea how we can disguise it." It's incredibly weird to maintain a conversation with a boy who has his face buried in your chest, but at least they're talking and Kurt's getting most of the things he's saying. "Now, I've got a white cane and we can cover your eyes with bandages-"

"You're making me a blind man?" Kurt inquires, not sounding very thrilled.

Dave rolls his eyes. "Better a blind guy than a guy who's afraid because he sees the future, Kurt. No one's going to ask anything beyond how you got blinded, no one would be so rude. Even if the Dalton people are around, they don't know I exist and William said they don't know what you look like, except for Jesse and Blaine. So we'd be just a guy leading a blind guy; I could say you're my brother."

Kurt stays silent for several seconds. "I don't think that will be enough. I don't think I can help being frightened by the sounds of… people and cars and stuff, David."

"I'll be there with you. And because you'll be blind, you can hold onto me if you need to and no one will think it's anything weird," he says, since that's something Dave was worried about.

Kurt always seems afraid to let go of him. It's not like he and Kurt are… anything romantic, and Dave has kind of gotten used to it., But one guy holding another guy in public would definitely draw attention. If they played the blind guy act, though, it would be just fine.

"You won't leave me, right?"

"I'd never leave you," Dave tells him honestly. "I'm here to look after you. I'm not going to leave you alone, especially not in public. You have to trust me."

"Alright."

Dave smiles. They are making progress and he's feeling a little more optimistic about their future. "You have to change your clothes first. You're still on your pajamas, and we can't walk into a hotel with you looking like that. I've got clothes from Artie for you."

Now Kurt looks up, meeting Dave's eyes. The boy is frowning. "Artie's clothes?" he asks, almost upset. "Why? What about my clothes?"

Seriously, has Kurt ever been in public? Dave's aware that due to his gift, Kurt has spent most of his life almost isolated from the world, but didn't the boy notice that no man wears the things he does? Kurt might not see men in general, but the guys in the circus spend a lot of time with Kurt and none of them dresses anything like the boy. Dave actually likes the way Kurt dresses a lot, but it's just not appropriate outside the circus.

"They're a bit flashy, Kurt," Dave tells him, trying not to hurt his feelings. "William said that if you wore your clothes, you'd have a lot of people staring at you."

Kurt sighs, nodding. Dave takes the bag from the backseat and hands it to Kurt, who's finally giving him some space. The boy puts a pair of brown pants over his pajama bottoms and a coat over his pajama top. Then he pulls on some socks and ankle boots and looks down at himself, completely devastated.

"I look horrible," he says, and Dave quivers a smile. He likes seeing a more relaxed Kurt, and he wonders if he'll be able to see a normal Kurt; the Kurt that his friends get to see.

"You're just fine. Now turn around, I'll cover your eyes."

Kurt nods again, and it seems like this is something that Kurt's fine with; as soon as Dave starts wrapping the bandages around Kurt's head, covering his eyes, the kid seems to relax a bit.

"It would be great if we had dark glasses, but for now, if anyone asks, you're newly blind," Dave tells him. "That will explain the bandages."

"Alright."

"I'm going to start the car now, so don't be startled," David says, considering it best to explain everything carefully to Kurt, so nothing will catch him off guard. "I'll let you know when we get to Topeka; there's probably going to be a lot of noise, it's not even noon yet, so there will be plenty of people."

He sees Kurt swallow hard and his brows knit together above the bandages; it's obvious that the boy is already suffering in anticipation. Kurt says nothing, though, so Dave starts the engine and Kurt leans against the seat at his side and rests a hand on Dave's thigh.

Dave stays still when he feels Kurt's hand there, looking down at it.

He doesn't mind Kurt always touching him, in fact, by now he's getting used to it. Dave believes it's his way of making sure that Dave is right there with him. It doesn't make much sense, though; after all, who would be driving the car if Dave wasn't there? Yet it seems that Kurt doesn't let himself take anything for granted, so Dave doesn't push the boy away.

It's funny - because of all the mess, the escaping, the Dalton people and Kurt's stress, Dave had completely forgotten about how attractive he finds Kurt, in spite of the boy's messy personal situation. But now Kurt's hand is on his thigh. Dave determines he won't get aroused by Kurt touching him there.

Instead, he takes a deep breath and starts driving towards Topeka.

Kurt remains silent, but only until they reach the outskirts of the city and he can hear traffic sounds getting louder and more frequent. Then the boy curls up into a ball, covering one of his ears with one hand and tightening his grip on Dave's thigh with the other. Dave decides to find a hotel quickly so he can get Kurt away from the street noise, but he doesn't stop to ask for directions since that would probably distress the boy even more.

Dave drives randomly up and down the streets of Topeka; he didn't travel much before joining the circus, at least not far enough to know his way around the Midwest. Plus, all the traveling he did with the circus was just to small towns and villages, so it doesn't compare with places like Topeka, Wichita, or any of the other big cities they're supposed to hide in.

He's sure he must be driving around in circles until he finally spots what seems to be a very large hotel in the distance.

"I think I found a place to stay," Dave announces, driving in the direction of the big building.

"I don't want to get out," Kurt tells him with a small voice.

"We don't have much of a choice. But look on the bright side; we won't have to go outside for the next two or three days," he says, trying to convince Kurt. "More or less. We'll have to buy food at some point."

Kurt groans. "David…"

"I know, I know. Let's find a room where we can be more comfortable and figure this out together," he says, feeling in a hurry. Just like he predicted, the city is noisy and Kurt has been breathing erratically for the past fifteen minutes; his fingers are pressing quite painfully into Dave's thigh, so Dave is eager to get Kurt inside as soon as he can.

As they get closer to the big building, Dave believes it's going to be somewhat expensive. It's not a motel like the last time, but a proper building. Still, this place looks like it has a couple dozen rooms, so lots of guests, and William and the guys told him the Dalton people wouldn't try to do anything to them in public.

Dave guesses that this is the kind of hotel they should look for from now and on, instead of motels.

He also notices, as he's looking for a place to park, that there are several stores right near the building, so if they need something, they won't have to go far.

"I'm parking the car now," Dave lets Kurt know. "We'll pick up our bags, and we'll get out of the car. We're not far from the entrance, so it won't take us long to get there."

Shaking and almost sobbing, Kurt only says, "David."

But Dave parks his truck and then he turns to face Kurt. "You can do it; I know you can. I'll be here, right next to you. It's going to be scary, but it will be just a few minutes, just until we get in the room. After that, we won't leave the room if you don't want us to."

"We'll have walls?"

Dave frowns at the obvious question. "Er... yes? Rooms come with walls."

Kurt swallows hard, and Dave believes he's trying to gather his courage. The kid says nothing for a few seconds, then holds his head high. "Alright, let's do this. But we have to be quick, I won't-"

"You've got it," Dave says with a wide smile on his face, already getting their stuff from the back seat. "We'll be super fast, I promise. You take this," he hands Kurt the white cane. "And you'll carry this bag. I'll get the rest."

He hangs the sailor bag on Kurt's shoulder and grabs the other stuff. He realizes that Kurt's going to have to let him go to get out of the car, and he stays still for a second, analyzing the situation. Normal people would get out of the car and meet on the sidewalk, but neither of them is normal, Kurt even less so. They'd be apart for a few seconds, but it's the first time Kurt's doing something like this and Dave doesn't want to stress Kurt any more than he has to.

"Now you'll grab my hand, and I'll step out," Dave extends his hand, and Kurt snatches it quickly. Dave highly doubts Kurt will be able to handle having his eyes covered in a crowded city without being able to feel where Dave is all the time. "You climb over my seat, alright?"

He sees Kurt frown at first, but then he says, "Oh," and nods.

Dave helps Kurt out of the truck. As soon as Kurt's feet touch the pavement, he quickly presses himself against Dave, holding onto him as if otherwise he'd fall off a cliff.

"It's alright, Kurt. You're going to be fine," Dave whispers to his ear. The sound of the passing cars only makes Kurt tremble more and Dave holds him tight. "Why don't we get going? The faster we go, the faster you'll have walls."

Kurt nods, and locks an arm around Dave's. "Just don't let me go."

"I won't."

Dave starts leading the way to the hotel's entrance, carefully, since even if they're only pretending Kurt is blind, the guy can't actually see where he's going. Almost instinctively, Kurt uses the cane to feel along the ground beneath his feet and while it's a shame they have to do this, Dave considers it adds verisimilitude to their act.

"We're just a few feet away," Dave tells Kurt, who keeps flinching every time he feels or hears someone walking by.

It doesn't take long to get inside the building; Kurt seems a little relieved at not being on the street, but not very much. The reception is large and very fancy, at least it seems that way to Dave, who has never been in a place like this, but he doesn't take much time to admire his surroundings.

"Heading to the counter," Dave whispers to Kurt. "There's just one lady and a bellboy."

Kurt nods again, but he still tightens his grip around Dave's arm, and stands a little behind Dave when the receptionist greets them. Dave feels Kurt's forehead pressed into the back of his shoulder, the boy is obviously trying to hide himself.

"Welcome to the Jayhawk Hotel, my name is Mindy. What can I do for you?"

The girl eyes Kurt, but it's a pitying look, which is a good sign: she's buying that Kurt's supposedly blind, rather than a circus freak.

"Good afternoon to you, too," Dave replies politely. He's definitely feeling very good about their plan. "We need a room for a couple of days."

"We have some double bed rooms available. Would you like the upper stories or something closer to the streets?"

"I really don't mind."

"Something high up," Kurt interrupts them.

The girl stays still for a few seconds and then nods. "Ninth floor alright? The room faces the back of the building, so it's quieter." Dave nods. "Well, let me get your names down here. The room is $3.65 per night."

"We'll stay for two nights," Dave tells her and she nods again.

Mindy nods, grabbing a big book and a pen. Dave realizes he will have to give fake names and he does his best to come up with something. "Name please?"

"Cameron," Dave says right away, since his old boss's name is the first one that comes to mind. "John and Mike Cameron." He makes a mental note to remember those names, at least as long as they're in Topeka.

Mindy looks up. "Oh, you're related?"

"Brothers."

She smiles at him and looks sympathetically at Kurt again. The girl bends over, inviting Dave to do the same. "Is he alright?" she whispers to him, sounding concerned, and he gets that she's talking about Kurt's supposed blindness.

Dave pulls a sad face. "It happened recently; he's just getting used to it and it's a bit scary for him," he lies.

"Poor thing."

Dave nods, pressing his lips. "We're on our way to our parents in Chicago. He really needs them now."

It's almost like Mindy is seeing suffering puppies, she suddenly looks sadder than he does and straightens back up. "Well, you sign here," she pushes the book forwards, pointing to where Dave has to sign. "That will be $7.30."

Dave pays the receptionist, who hands to him the keys for room 910. The young bellboy asks them to follow him and leads them to an elevator. Dave has used elevators just a couple of times, long ago, but he has no clue what Kurt's life was like before he started seeing people's future. He hopes the elevator won't be too scary for him.

"We're getting into an elevator."

Kurt's arm tightens again around Dave's arm. "I've never been in one."

The bellboy laughs. "Trust me, it's nothing. You'll hardly even know we're moving."

Dave keeps on walking slowly, making sure Kurt doesn't trip over anything. Kurt takes hesitant steps, taping the floor with the white cane, and the bellboy, like the receptionist, watches the supposedly recently blinded young boy with pitying eyes. It seems their charade is working very well.

The ride in the elevator is not as traumatic for Kurt as Dave thought it would be, probably because being in an elevator – at least this one - is just standing still; Kurt seems more scared of the strange bellboy standing next to him.

Luckily for them both, they reach the ninth floor quickly and the bellboy leaves them alone once they get to room 910. Dave hardly has time to tip the bellboy for carrying their bags before Kurt practically drags him inside and slams the door shut. Kurt's breathing quickly again, frantically pulling the bandages down to uncover his eyes.

"Thank God," Kurt whispers with his eyes filled with tears and Dave feels bad for him. He can't even imagine how much tension Kurt must have been bottling up.

So Dave wraps his arms around Kurt, trying to comfort him. "See? We made it; you made it. I told you you could do it."

Kurt lets out a relieved sigh and releases Dave so he can rest his back against the wall. Dave's not sure what Kurt 's thing about walls is, but if they relax him, Dave's fine with it. He places all the bags on the bed and sits down. The room looks as nice as the rest of the hotel. It's tidy and cozy and, more importantly, it's quiet; they're on the ninth floor, so there's no noises coming from the streets and Dave realizes why Kurt asked for a room in a high up floor.

Hopefully, Kurt will be comfortable in here.

Kurt steps closer to the bed, sitting close to Dave; then he lies down, running his hand over Dave's back in the process. "Thank you for helping me through this. I know I'm not the easiest person to be around."

Dave looks down at him, and it's almost painful. He has seen Kurt distressed in repeated occasions, but those times don't compare to this. For a start, Kurt looks weird in Artie's clothes; not because they don't fit but because they don't look right on him. The bandages that were covering his eyes are now around his neck, his hair is disheveled and his eyes show a new level of distress.

"It's not your fault," Dave tells him quietly. "I can't even imagine how hard this is for you."

It looks like Kurt's making a great effort not to burst into tears. Dave starts explaining to him what happened the night they ran away, the stops Dave made, when he saw the Dalton people in Greensburg and the night they spend in Pratt.

"You said everyone else is fine. How do you know?"

"William told me to call a woman named Emma," he says, and Kurt's lips twitch in a smile. "I did when I stopped for gas. You were passed out from the chloroform. She said that Santana told her they're all safe. You know her?"

Kurt sighs, deeply and almost sadly. "Like I know most people. She lives in Maine. The circus went there a couple of times and she visited our camp, but I never met her personally. I used to see her a lot in William's future. Now I mostly see her in Santana's future."

"Who is she?"

Kurt smiles, almost giggling, and Dave's heart warms since he has never seen Kurt smile like this. Clearly, Kurt is slowly calming down; he's relaxing in bed, there are no sounds of cars or people, and there are walls surrounding them which ease the boy.

"She's sort of William's girlfriend," Kurt informs him and Dave arches an eyebrow.

There are plenty more urgent things to talk about, like what they are going to do later, when they're going to buy food, and mostly the travel plans that they have to make, which will involve Kurt being around people more often than they'd like. All those things are more important than William's romantic life. Yet Kurt had been through a lot today, and Dave's sure that this moment of relaxation won't last long. Talking about this Emma woman seems to be interesting or amusing to Kurt; maybe it makes Kurt feel more connected to his absent friends in the circus, so Dave listens to him carefully.

"Sort of?"

"William doesn't talk much about it. He pretty much devotes his life to us; Emma has her own life in Maine, and he doesn't dare ask her to come with us. So it's like, they love each other, but don't say it because they can't be together."

Dave frowns, since that's a pretty sad story.

"But the guys tease William all time," Kurt continues, smiling, "saying he should ask her already. From what I feel, William is very much in love with Emma, and he doesn't want her to change her life completely for him. But I think Emma is waiting for William to ask her that."

Dave frowns again, not getting what Kurt is saying. "What do you mean, 'from what you feel'?"

Kurt stares at him puzzled, like he's wondering why his words are not being understood. "I feel his love for her, when he talks to her on the phone. Or sometimes when he thinks about her while he's doing something else."

It takes Dave a few seconds to catch on. "You mean when you see William's future and he's talking to her, you can feel stuff?"

Kurt nods. "When I'm caught off guard and the visions strike me hard, usually yes, I can feel what… the people in my visions are feeling. I almost become the person whose future I'm seeing."

Finn told Dave that sometimes Kurt acts out the future as he's seeing it. But Dave has never seen Kurt having visions, since he cancels Kurt's ability when he's around. Still, he didn't know that Kurt could also get feelings from them.

"Wow."

Kurt chuckles, clearly not happy about it. "Anyway, she's been around since forever, or at least since I joined the circus. I saw her in some of the other guy's futures when we were in Maine; they all got to know her. Now it's just Santana and William."

"Emma said Santana was at her place," Dave tells Kurt, laying on his side since his neck is starting to ache from looking down at the boy.

"Well, Santana is our mailman," Kurt tells him, as if it's something obvious, and Dave finds himself again smack up against something he didn't know. "Or mail woman, to be more precise."

"How come?"

Dave is aware that the guys write letters to their families, the ones that are in touch with them, anyway, but he never gave much thought to how they manage to receive mail when they're always moving from place to place.

"We use the regular post office to send letters, but all the replies arrive at Emma's place. When there's mail, she lets William know and Santana has been at her house, so she just shows up there, in the basement to make sure no one sees her, to pick up the letters."

Dave nods, impressed; he feels kind of silly, because he's been in the circus for some months and there are still so many things that he doesn't know and never even thought to ask about. On the other hand, maybe he'll have a chance to get some much-needed information from Kurt while they're on the road.

They talk a bit more and Dave avoids the topic of the Dalton people, or that Sebastian has joined them, or their running away, or anything else that might distress Kurt. Dave brings out the bag with food, and neither of them discuss what they're going to eat tomorrow, since what they have now is enough for today.

Kurt gets agitated again when Dave gets up to use the bathroom, and Dave has to take him by the hand and actually show him the bathroom and point out there's no way Dave can leave that way, since there are no windows in there and even if there were, they're on the ninth floor.

It's a bit frustrating for Dave, having to explain yet again that he won't leave Kurt, since he wouldn't even consider doing such a thing on the first place. But he knows this whole situation must be pretty hard for Kurt and it's too much to expect the boy to put himself in Dave's shoes, so he tries to be patient.

When he sees the bathroom, Kurt realizes he really needs to use it as well and Dave lets him go first, always talking to him through the door so Kurt will know for certain that Dave hasn't left him alone.

Dave feels really exhausted by the time the sun starts to set, and they both decide to go to bed. Much to Dave's surprise, Kurt doesn't ask for his pills, so Dave assumes the boy is feeling equally tired and doesn't need to take anything to help him to sleep.

Dave leaves the bathroom light on and the door slightly ajar, so they won't be in complete darkness once the sun goes down; that way all night Kurt will be able to see that Dave's still right there.

He doesn't know how many people are staying at the hotel, or if there are any people besides them on the ninth floor, but he's sure the Dalton people won't be able to kidnap Kurt from here; they wouldn't be able to carry the boy out without people seeing. And like him and Kurt, the Dalton guys must also pass unnoticed. When Dave rests his head on the pillow, he sighs, relaxed, because despite all the tension of their second day on the run, he managed to keep Kurt safe.

He quickly falls asleep.

Sometime later, Dave wakes up drowsily. The room is dark, except for the light coming from the bathroom, and it's dead silent, but Dave quickly realizes that Kurt is not in his bed. He's about to panic and probably die of a heart attack, when he feels Kurt's warm hand squeezing his.

"Kurt?"

He props himself up on an elbow, only to find Kurt sitting in the floor next to his bed with his arm resting on the mattress, holding Dave's hand. Kurt looks up with eyes full of guilt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

Dave shakes his head. "You didn't. What are you doing?"

"I… I'm scared. I can't sleep," Kurt says, his voice sounding pained. "Every time I close my eyes, I have to force myself to open them just to make sure you're still here."

Dave is as tired and sleepy as he is resigned to Kurt's irrational fear. He understands why Kurt's so scared, but the reality is that Dave can't possibly abandon the room in a matter of seconds, let alone do it without making enough noise to let Kurt know he's doing such a thing.

He sighs. "Do you want to lay down here with me?

"What?"

Dave really wants to go back to sleep, and honestly, that's the only reason he's inviting Kurt into his bed. Dave's aware that once he's wide awake, he'll feel uncomfortable about sharing the bed with Kurt, a boy he finds incredibly attractive but who's so broken and disturbed that Dave can't have him.

But Dave is here to keep Kurt safe, and right now he's only thinking about a way to make him get some sleep.

"It's a single bed, you'll be constantly aware that I'm right next to you since we won't have much room."

Kurt goes silent for several seconds and Dave lays back on the mattress. Well, he tried. Despite the circus being open to homosexuality, it seems Kurt is uncomfortable sharing a bed with another guy.

"You won't mind?"

Dave scoots over, pulling Kurt by his hand and the boy lays down next to him. Kurt seems a bit tense at first, but once Dave pulls the covers over them both, he feels Kurt's body easing.

Kurt wraps his hands around Dave's arm.

"I'm sorry for this, David."

Dave only yawns. "You don't have to worry, alright? Try to get some sleep; it's been a long day."

Kurt nods and even though Dave is bone tired, he forces himself to remain awake until Kurt falls asleep first. Fortunately, just a few minutes go by until he hears Kurt breathing steadily, and his hands loosen around Dave's arm.

Finally, Dave lets himself sleep in peace.


	13. Chapter 12

**AN:** I really apologize for the delay.  
Thanks a lot to Ella Greggs for being my beta!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Kurt blinks his eyes slow and lazily as he tries to focus them. He's sleepy though, and warm and comfortable.

There's sunlight coming through the window, but this window is not above his head as it usually is, but in front of him, several feet away from where he's laying down. Kurt frowns at this awkward distance between the window and his bed. But then he notices that his pillow is firmer than usual, since it feels more solid against his cheek and that for some reason his head is moving up and down, because the pillow is doing so.

Kurt frowns even more, because then he realizes that there's an arm wrapped around his waist, and that's when the recent events become clearer in his mind.

He's far from the circus, far from his trailer, in a hotel room, in the open, in public, and sleeping in the same bed with David.

Kurt's too lethargic to freak out, or even to jump in his place since he's so sleepy that he doesn't feel like moving, but little by little he starts becoming more conscious of where he is and then he blushes furiously.

He can recall that David invited him into bed, and Kurt accepted the offer in spite of being mortified at sharing the bed with another boy (or girl, for that matter). Well, a _man_ in David's case, since he's not precisely a boy.

Everyone in the circus is really accepting of homosexuality, but maybe not all boys would be very comfortable sharing their bed with another boy. Maybe. Kurt's not sure. It sort of embarrasses Kurt to sleep with someone else.

It's impossible not to realize that he's draped all over David. David is just sleeping on his back, while Kurt's head is resting on his chest and his arm is wrapped around the other man's waist and his leg is crooked around David's calve.

Kurt blushes even harder as his body grows hot with embarrassment.

He's about to untangle himself from David to avoid a very awkward situation if David wakes up when he hears a loud noise coming from outside. His heartbeat suddenly picks up, his limbs clinging tighter to David's body.

David tenses, stretching his neck like he's uncomfortable, but in his scared state Kurt doesn't give David more room.

"Kurt," David breathes out, not even opening his eyes. Kurt looks at him, feeling terrified and guilty. "It's just the elevator; go back to sleep."

That said, David sighs and apparently goes back to sleep, since his breath turns steady again. Kurt cranes his neck, trying to hear something more and he realizes David's right, it _was_ just the elevator, and he slowly eases off, although he still doesn't completely let go.

Then Kurt notices that in spite of being asleep, David has his arm wrapped around Kurt's waist tightly. Feeling safer, Kurt lets himself fall back into sleep.

* * *

When Kurt wakes up again, he stretches around comfortably and that's when he realizes he's alone in the bed.

His blood turns cold in one second; he sits up straight and, seeing that he's all alone in the room, fear overtakes him and he screams in panic: "DAVID!"

Kurt hears steps coming from the bathroom, and he suffers a second wave of terror because he's in a strange place and people, strangers, could be coming towards him, which means someone's future will surely strike his mind. He's not in the circus anymore, he's outside, unprotected and David's not around.

Yet it is only David who rushes into the room; as soon as Kurt sees him, he jumps off the bed, launching into David.

"Jesus, Kurt!" David breathes out, wrapping his arms around Kurt, who's hanging from his neck.

Kurt's soul returns to his body at the knowledge that David is still there with him.

"Calm down," David tells him with a soothing voice. "I was just brushing my teeth. I'm not going to leave you; I was just in the bathroom."

But Kurt's still shaken up; he can't process a coherent thought, only hold tight to David, assuring himself that David's very much there, protecting him from the future.

He doesn't even realize that David has led him to the bed and sat him down until David is kneeling on the floor in front of him, trying to push him off. Kurt eases up and lets go, but not completely, keeping his hands resting on David's shoulders.

"Kurt, you need to stop this," David tells him with a calm voice. "I understand this whole new environment is difficult for you to cope with, but you must remember that I'm not going to leave you."

Kurt's eyes fills with tears; he's such a mess… and he's obviously exhausting David, who's the only person he can rely on. Kurt mustn't annoy David, or he might get sick of him and leave. "I'm sorry."

"Don't cry. _I'm_ sorry, I shouldn't-"

"It's alright," Kurt cuts him off, doing his best to hold back his tears. "You're right. I'm being stupid, I don't want to be a bother to you-"

"You're not a bother," David states firmly, holding Kurt's face with both of his hands, forcing their gazes to meet. "You're not. But Kurt, you need to believe me when I say that I'm not leaving you. I was just in the bathroom and you thought I'd left you here, all by yourself, and I'd never do that."

"It's not so easy."

"I know it's not, but you can't keep getting scared if I'm out of your sight for even a few minutes. You need to trust me."

It's not a matter of trust and that's actually the problem. David might not leave him _willingly,_ but there are a gazillion things that could happen that are out of their control.

Like yesterday, during those horrible moments when they were on the street. How could Kurt be sure that some car wouldn't run over David, or that David wouldn't suddenly develop some new ability, an ability like Santana's, and vanished into the thin air? Kurt doesn't know, David could have more than one ability. Or what if they got stuck in the middle of a robbery and someone shot David, or maybe some guy stole something from them on the street and David instinctively ran after him?

What if the elevator doors closed between them, leaving Kurt inside and David in the lobby? What if -

"Kurt?"

David's voice forces him out of his trance. "I'm sorry. I got lost in my thoughts."

"Listen, why don't you wash up and then we should go buy something to eat."

Kurt's world is suddenly falling apart, but he remains stoically still. His friends in the circus are used to the mess he is, but it must be really hard for David to deal with him, so Kurt resolves to stay calm. He'll freak out about the prospect of going outside when they have to go outside.

"Alright."

They both stand up, and when David takes him to the bathroom the first thing Kurt notices is the bathtub. It was surely there yesterday, but apparently Kurt was too panicked about being alone in the bathroom, away from David, to even notice.

He hasn't had a real bath since he joined the circus over four years ago. Unlike his friends, Kurt can't use the showers when they're available in the towns where they perform, for obvious reasons. Kurt is very keen on grooming so he's constantly washing himself and his clothes because he likes to look nice. Yet he can only wash with just a bucket of water that's usually cold.

Kurt turns around to face David. "We can take baths," he says, and David smiles.

"Amazing, uh?"

Kurt laughs, clapping his hands together and he grabs David's hand, dragging him to the bathtub and turning the faucets on. Kurt laughs again, looking at David. "Plumbing! Did you bathe already?"

He can't believe how incredible it is to see water coming from the faucet. He feels like he's discovering a whole new world, even if he knows this world from before.

"I was just brushing my teeth. I didn't want to leave you alone for too long. But you go first."

Kurt's feeling more relaxed and happier now. They both leave the bathroom while the tub fills, and everything would be perfect if only Kurt could get dressed in his own clothes after a nice hot bath. He looks in the bag that David brings him and it's very disheartening having to wear Artie's clothes.

"They're not so bad."

Kurt looks up at David, and the man is obviously trying not to laugh. "Yeah? You seem amused though."

"You're face is amusing," David retorts, pointing at him. "You're looking at those clothes as if they're horrible. They're just regular clothes, you know?"

"I don't wear regular clothes."

"I know, believe me."

His excitement starts fading when the bath is ready and, of course, he needs to enter the bathroom and leave David on the other side of the door. David seems to notice his distress when he's about to close the door.

"Be careful not to get your bandages wet or your cut could open again. We'll change your bandages when you finish taking your bath."

Kurt looks down at his wounded hand; he keeps forgetting about the cut, but that's probably because ever since he got hurt he's been sleeping, drugged, or too terribly scared to notice it.

The bath won't be as comfortable as he thought it would be…

"You go inside now," David tells him and apparently fear shows in Kurt's eyes because the other boy adds: "I'll be right here. You just talk to me."

Kurt nods and David closes the bathroom door. It's a strange feeling and far from comfortable. He always loved loneliness because that meant he was vision-free. Kurt always liked being alone in his trailer, he was sure that his friends wouldn't let any strangers get close to him. There was no paranoia or fear of unexpected things. But Kurt is far from his trailer now and it seems he can't bear being alone; actually, he can't bear not being able to see or touch to David.

He tries to focus in his bath, undressing and stepping in the tub of hot water and it does feel incredible.

"Are you in?" David asks from the other side of the door.

"Yes! It's great! I haven't had a real bath in years!" Kurt calls back.

It's surreal to be surrounded by hot water; the last time he was under water was in a vision of Rachel's future when their friends pushed her into a lake, and that wasn't a great experience for him. This instead reminds him of the days when he used to live with his father in their house back in Ohio, back when his life was normal.

It would be perfect if he wasn't constantly aware of the fact that he cannot see where David is. Even though David is talking through the door, Kurt can't really make out what he's saying because he's growing nervous and the fear starts making him dizzy.

He's not going to be able to do this.

"Kurt! Are you alright? You're all quiet," David asks, concerned.

David is in the adjoining room and Kurt cannot see what's going on in there.

What if someone breaks in and takes David away? What if David gets ill and… _dies _or something? Kurt needs to check on him, to make sure everything is alright.

"I… I really can't do this."

"Close the curtain, I'm coming in," David says, and the curtain was closed already so he just peeks out, watching David enter the bathroom. Kurt exhales, relieved.

It's always so good to see him. David turns around, his back to the curtain, and Kurt smiles at that gesture. "So what's going on?"

Kurt feels horrible putting David through so much trouble. "The usual."

"We were fine doing this yesterday."

"We weren't separated for so long. And I'm nowhere near done. I haven't even started to soap myself," Kurt replies remorsefully.

David sighs. "Would you feel more comfortable if I stayed?"

It's weird because Kurt's naked, all naked, and there's another man in the same room with him and it's really embarrassing, but at the same time David is not looking at him, while Kurt can see that he's there.

"Will you stay with your back to me?"

David lets out a short laugh. "I promise."

"Then yes, please stay."

Kurt watches David sit on the floor, back to him, and he smiles. "We need bathtubs in camp," Kurt tells him, more chipper. "This is really good."

"I'm taking one after you."

As Kurt soaps his body and checks on David every ten or twenty seconds just to be sure that the young man is still there, he looks around and God, he's inside a real bathroom, and that means that he's far from his trailer, which also means that he's far from the camp.

Kurt's far from his friends, the only familiar faces he's seen for the last four years. He's uneasy, not because of his horrible 'gift' and the visions of the future he might get. For the first time in years, the present is the cause of his fears.

During the past four years, Kurt has been living with a steady routine. Every day was the same: he slept in the same bed, had his meals with the same people, sewed some costumes, wrote some letters, and everything was perfectly monotonous. Kurt and all his friends worked hard to adapt his environment in a way that gave Kurt control of his life and his surroundings for the sake of his mental stability.

All that is gone now.

He's on the run with David. Kurt cannot build a new routine in this new room, because David said they can't stay in the same hotel - not even in the same city - for more than two or three days. Tomorrow he's probably going to be in a different place, far from here, on a different bed, with different walls surrounding him.

Kurt's not very eager to talk about what they should do next, because that only reminds him of the current situation. Instead he thinks about his friends and his beloved circus… what if the circus is gone forever? What if the Dalton people never stop pursuing them? They can't run forever and Kurt doesn't think the Dalton people will suddenly give up and leave them alone.

When is he even going to see his friends again?

"Do you think they're safe?" Kurt asks quietly.

"Emma said they were," David replies, getting right away that he's talking about their friends. "You shouldn't worry about that."

"It's hard not to."

"They're probably more worried about you than you are about them."

Kurt frowns, not welcoming David's words. "I worry a lot about them!"

"I didn't mean that you don't. I mean that everyone has more reason to worry about you. We'll have to call Emma today or tomorrow to let them know you're still safe."

David has a point; his friends do care a lot about him, and Kurt's is more than sure running away is not as difficult for them as it is for him. It doesn't relax Kurt though, because once again, the uncertainty is there; actually, it's all over the place and Kurt doesn't have anything to hold onto. The circus is gone, his friends are gone, and so are his routines.

But David's there. It would be easier for both of them if they knew each other a little better. There wouldn't be so much awkwardness, at least. All of his friends are used to his weirdness, so much that Kurt has stopped feeling guilty and embarrassed when he acts all strange in front of them, and that happens quite often.

David has always seen him at his worst; Lord, all the times they've been together David only sees him in bizarre situations.

Kurt soaps his arms and legs and checks on David once again. David's still there and Kurt nods at this reaffirmation.

He needs to stop acting like this in front of David. If he just behaves in a crazy way all the time, David will think he's actually crazy and Kurt hates people thinking he's crazy.

Kurt decides he needs to give David a break, or at least to try to. David is making a remarkable effort to deal with him, showing the patience of a saint, and they don't even know each other that much. He owes it to David to act as normally as he can.

It takes a lot of effort to wash his hair without getting his hurt hand wet, but somehow he manages. He blushes and gets embarrassed all over again when he's done and needs to get out of the tub.

Kurt's naked and David's there.

"I'm done," Kurt announces with a small voice.

He listens to David getting up from the floor and Kurt quickly sticks his head out from behind the curtain, keeping his body covered by it. David's still there, facing away from him, and that's good on both counts.

"Do you think you can manage a few minutes on your own so you can dress?" David asks, almost as if he's reading his mind.

Kurt is not sure, but he must make the effort. "Will you talk to me through the door?"

David shows a small smile Kurt can't see. "Of course."

"I can try," Kurt offers.

"I'll wait for you outside."

Kurt watches David exit and as soon as the other man leaves the room Kurt practically jumps out of the tub, reaching for the towel and drying himself quickly. The bandages on his hand loosen up as he hastily dress.

"You know," David says from the other side of the door. "I don't want to upset you, but I was thinking we should go get some food now."

Kurt tenses, looking at the door even though he can't see David. "You think?" he inquires with a faltering voice.

He really doesn't want to go out; not now, not ever. But he's not dumb and he's aware that they will have to leave their room eventually.

"Yes. I mean, the sooner we do it, the sooner we'll be done. Otherwise you'll be anxious all day long, knowing that we still have to go out. But if we do it now, we can get enough food so we can stay in here until tomorrow."

Kurt knows what David says makes sense. Yet a shiver runs down Kurt's spine. He's only got on pants and a white undershirt, but considering himself decent enough, he leaves the bathroom, almost knocking over David, who was standing just outside the door. Kurt lets out a relieved sigh and smiles at David.

"You're here."

David nods with a knowing smile. "I was just talking to you, so yes, I'm here."

In moments like this one – and there has been plenty of them - Kurt feels incredibly stupid. David is right, it's impossible that he wouldn't be there if they were just talking to each other. Kurt can't really explain why he keeps being so scared and tense, even when he's sure that David is there. He just can't help it.

"So we leave now?"

"If you feel up to it. We should fix those bandages and you should finish dressing."

Kurt will never feel like going out, but he does his best to gather some courage. He has to face the inevitable eventually. And David is right. The knowledge that they have to go into the street has been tingling in the back of his head ever since David mentioned it. If they get rid of this task now, at least Kurt will be able to spend the rest of the day in peace.

So Kurt gets properly dressed – or not so properly, since there's nothing proper about the clothes he's wearing. David gets ready himself, grabbing a jacket, the money and the white cane. Kurt combs his hair and lets David change the bandages on his hand. Kurt takes a look and the wound is there, deep and red, but it's not bleeding so he believes it's healing.

Yet as soon as David starts covering his eyes with the other bandage, Kurt starts growing anxious. He tries to reign in his fear since this is just the beginning; they haven't even left their room.

"Easy, Kurt," David tells him with a soothing voice. "This is going to be hard. But you did it once, right? I won't leave you alone. Ever."

Kurt nods as he lets David cover his eyes. When David's done, Kurt immediately grabs hold of him because he can't see him anymore. David puts the white cane in Kurt's hand and they lock their arms together as he lets himself be guided to the door.

It's ridiculous but the cane actually helps him find his way. Kurt takes a deep breath, holding onto David even tighter when he hears the man open the door.

It's horrible.

Kurt feels the ground beneath his feet with the white cane, trying to abstract himself from the surrounding that in spite of being unable to see , he can feel everywhere. Kurt hates how the atmosphere changes when he's not indoors, secluded behind walls. But this is much worse than stepping out to pick up something from the costumes trailer.

Kurt tries though. His arm is locked with David's and David is whispering things to him, but Kurt's concentrating so hard on trying not to faint or die that he can't make out the words he's hearing.

They get into the elevator. David speaks louder this time: "I'm going to ask the receptionist where can we get some take-out food. Alright?"

Kurt nods because he can't even speak. His head starts hurting as he feels his heart beating faster. The bell of the elevator rings, indicating that they've reached the ground floor and Kurt tries not to think about how far he is from their room, and how if something bad happens, he'll have great difficulty finding his way back to it, since Kurt has never actually seen the place.

He follows David to what Kurt assumes is the reception desk. When David starts talking to the receptionist, Kurt holds tighter to David. There's another person close to him, and Kurt's able to be with up to two people. It's his first thought, even if he knows he won't see any futures while David's there. Yet in case David stops being there, it will be just this girl, himself and his fear. Kurt might handle it.

Since he's so busy thinking about what he would do if David vanished into the thin air, he jerks in place when David pulls him from his arm, leading him. Kurt follows of course.

"Did you hear that?"

Kurt shakes his head no.

"There's a dining room in this hotel," David whispers, sounding excited. "We won't have to go out."

Kurt's lips twitch into a small smile. He looks up, as if he was trying to meet David's eyes. "How big is this hotel?"

"Pretty big," David replies as they walk by somewhere Kurt doesn't know.

"Expensive, right? I can't remember how much it cost. A hotel with a restaurant?"

"It is, but William said crowded places right? The Dalton people won't approach us if there are people around."

That's as upsetting as it is true. He keeps walking as David tells his step by step where they're going, something Kurt appreciates because he won't be able to handle surprises. 'The dining is in the ground floor,' 'we're going through a large hallway,' 'there's no one around,' etc.

Yet when David announces that they're about to walk into the dining room, Kurt listens to him muttering 'Shit,' as he opens the door for the both of them, and the curse is redundant since at the same moment the sound of a large group in one place reaches Kurt's ears.

"It's crowded," David whispers as Kurt feels his soul abandoning his body. "Not a lot, but there must be at least thirty people."

The little moment of ease Kurt felt having about not having to go out on the streets quickly fades. His heart suddenly starts pounding so hard he thinks it's going to leap right out of his chest; he's dizzy, unsteady on his feet and generally shaky; the world around him is spinning out of control and he can't get a grip. Every muscle of his body tenses, so much so that he has trouble at walking.

"I'm here, Kurt. I'm not going to leave you," David mutters, rubbing his arm and Kurt only presses himself against David the most he can. "We're heading to the counter. There's a small line."

Kurt can barely hear him; he's more focused at the chatting around him. There are way too many people for his liking. As they walk between the different tables, he can heart parts of different conversations and it's unbearable.

Cold sweat runs down the back of his neck; he's incredibly cold and Kurt keeps growing more and more scared. The noise, the knowledge of the amount of people around him, it's too much for him to take.

Suddenly, they stop still. "We're in the line," David whispers at him.

Kurt can't process his words; he feels like he's dying; he's about to die and he can't even move to say something or to do something to prevent that from happening. Kurt can only hear himself thinking repeatedly _'I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying. _He can't remember the last time he felt this frightened, and the feeling does not allow him to conceive anything else. He's trapped in a turmoil of fear and desperation.

Kurt starts growing dizzy and numb, as if he had popped several sleeping pills and was about to fall asleep. He loses all ability to speak or formulate any coherent though. In spite of the rigidity of his body, he holds tight to David, realizing in horror that it's not enough.

He can feel that David is there and he's even able to hear his voice. Yet Kurt can't listen to him very well; David's voice is faint, as if Kurt were hearing him from a far distance, even though David must actually be right there, because Kurt is touching him.

But the noise of the people talking is louder, and his mind is almost screaming because even if his body can't respond, he knows he's going to die. The fear paralyzes him; he wants to cry but he can't manage to make even a sound. There are too many people around him and it's horrible. A part of him wishes that the future would just take him already, so this feeling of death would stop.

Ever since his ability kicked in, Kurt has never experienced this – being in crowded places - at least not in a conscious way. When he started seeing people's futures, he was quickly admitted to the asylum, but he was too far deep into his visions to realize what was happening. There hasn't been a point when Kurt actually saw himself about to lose the present, because the future was suddenly his present.

The second crowded place he's been at was the hospital, where his friends took him when he overdosed with chloroform. Once again, he simply woke up in the future of the doctors, patients, nurses and everyone else there. Luckily, William 'persuaded' the doctors not to hold him for a psychiatric examination.

And then it was the big lunch with his circus friends shortly after David joined them. That has been a horrible experience, too, but he knew he could count on his friends to never let something bad happening to him. He could get lost in the future, but it would have been his friends' future, people that Kurt knew. He would still have been in the circus, a place he was familiar with.

Now David is here, but in a strange place, in a strange city and there are at least twice as many people as in the circus. There are a billion things that could go wrong, and Kurt thinks about each and every one of those things, growing ever more scared, if that's possible.

Then everything turns very weird.

Kurt can feel that he's falling, but he never falls. The noise is there, at some point he can hear David speaking right to him, but Kurt is incapable of responding. He's trapped in his own panic and he doesn't even know how he's managing to stay on his feet.

He's aware that he's walking, that David is pulling him from here to there but he's not really conscious of what's happening. He loses track of space and time, at some point he can't hear anything but his own voice in his head, telling him over and over that he's going to die.

"Kurt. Kurt!"

It's David's voice, Kurt knows that much. He can hear it somewhere in the back of his mind. But Kurt can't move, he can't feel David anymore, and even though he desperately tries to reach David, his body just doesn't respond.

Then he feels it; he feels David everywhere. Kurt's pressed against the other boy, who's holding him hard against his chest, and Kurt's muscles begin to ease. With every second that passes, he regains more of his senses and all he can do is cry.

Kurt wants to hold David, but he's too tired to even move. Instead, he sobs uncontrollably.

"We're back. You're safe now," David tells him calmly, still not letting him go and for that Kurt's glad. He thought he had lost David.

The bandages are gone and Kurt blinks repeatedly with his eyes full of tears and he can see that they're back in their room. There are some bags of food on the floor, and he realizes he's actually kneeling on the floor, back against the wall. His head is resting on David's shoulder, and David is right in front of him, hugging him. He has no idea how this happened; he doesn't know how he managed to get back to their room; he really thought he was dying.

"God, David. I'm so scared," Kurt cries out.

"I know. I know," David replies, sounding pained.

"I'm so tired. Everything hurts."

Before he knows what's happening, he's being lifted up. Out of fear, he manages to move for the first time, wrapping his arms around David's neck; every muscle in his body hurts. David carries him bridal style to the bed and deposits him on the mattress. Kurt doesn't let him pull away, so David lays down next to him. Kurt throws an arm around David's chest, and a leg over his thigh, pressing himself close with every inch of his body so he can feel David as much as he can.

"You rest a bit, alright? I'll stay right here."

Kurt nods tiredly and all the tension starts leaving his body, until he ends up completely exhausted.

* * *

When Kurt wakes up, he has déjà vu. Once again, he find himself in bed, wrapped in David arms, but he's not scared or tense like he was in the morning. Or confused, since he recalls the recent events, well aware of where he is and who he's with.

David's awake; Kurt can feel David's hand rubbing his back in a comforting way.

"I'm sorry," Kurt mumbles.

David stills. "You're awake?"

Kurt looks up and he tries not to blush at being just a few inches from David's face. David, the same boy he's pressed against. God, he needs to stop thinking about David as a boy; Kurt is used to thinking of himself as a boy even if he's nineteen, but David must be older, and in any case he definitely doesn't look like a boy.

"Yes."

"Stop saying you're sorry," David tells him quietly. "Are you hungry?" In that very moment, Kurt's stomach growls loudly and he blushes deeper, while David just laughs. "I feel the same way."

When David tries to pull away Kurt instinctively holds him back; David gives him a soft look and Kurt feels a little embarrassed with himself. He lets David go.

David gets up and walks towards the bags on the floor. Kurt realizes there's a gap in his memory that he cannot fill, so when David brings the bags over to the bed and starts taking food out, Kurt can't help asking,

"What happened? I don't remember us coming back here. I was so afraid, I couldn't even move," Kurt tells him, as David hands him a wrapped plate with roasted meet. "Did I do something? Oh, God. Did I give us away?"

Kurt's heart starts beating faster at the prospect of having jeopardized everything.

David sighs like he doesn't know what to say. "You didn't give us away. Or at least I didn't notice anyone paying attention, other than to give you pitying looks due your supposed blindness."

Kurt frowns. "So what happened? I just remember… well, being afraid."

"I don't know. I noticed you were trembling and you were incredibly cold under my touch. I talked to you, you never answered," David continues. "I don't really know, Kurt. I was really scared, so I got us breakfast as fast as I could. But even when we left the dining room, and were alone in the hallways or the elevator, you remained cold and rigid… unresponsive. It wasn't until we got here that you finally reacted to something and broke into tears."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that!"

Kurt flinches and David gives him an apologetic look. "It's just… I'm really giving you the hardest time. I'm sure that running away wouldn't be so difficult for you if you were with, I don't know, some of our other friends."

"It doesn't matter. I was scared for you but nothing else happened. Now eat; it's cold but I think it will still be tasty."

They both eat the food in silence, and as his stomach starts filling his mood starts improving as well. Kurt had the scare of his life, but somehow he managed not to make a scene. David is still with him and their identities are safe.

"It's good, you know?" Kurt tells him.

"What thing?"

"That I got some practice today at being in public without making a scene. We'll have to face this more than once in the future." Even if that doesn't make him happy in the slightest he has to deal with the truth.

David looks at him with sad eyes. "I don't want you to go through so much. Tomorrow we'll have to leave to some other city, we'll have to buy food again and call Emma."

Kurt smiles at him; David is really nice, he notices. It's not like Kurt didn't know that, since without even knowing him, David always helped him. Like when he got stuck in the crowd the first time they met, or when David brought him food after that disastrous lunch with his friends, or when he saw the future about the Dalton people. In fact, David has stayed with him every day ever since those visions.

And now David is here with him, in the middle of nowhere and away from everything and everyone they know, looking after him.

If David can do so much for them both, Kurt can deal with his own fear.

"We'll manage, David," Kurt tells him tenderly, and much more optimistically. "We did today, right?"

David smiles. "Maybe you'll get used to it, and with time you won't be so scared."

Kurt doesn't think that will ever happen, but still. "Maybe."

His chest grows warm though, in spite of their dark future. After all, he got this far and he's still safe and future free in spite of everything and that's because David has been there for him all this time.

So he drops his plate and moves in front of David. "Can I hug you?"

David stares at him quietly, and Kurt blushes. He's been way too touchy with David already, but that was just product of his fear. But David nods slowly and Kurt wraps his arms around David's neck. "Thank you. For everything you're done for me," he says truthfully.

David hugs him back. "It's no trouble," he says and then he laughs. "Actually, we're having lots of troubles, but we're handling them just fine, right?"

They break the embrace and Kurt feels like laughing. "We're dealing, yes."

* * *

It's been only two nights since the circus had to split up and Dave's head is about to explode. This running away never gives him a break, and he's constantly facing new challenges with Kurt. Dave doesn't know how he's going to manage.

That trip to the dining room was... God, Dave has never been so scared in his life. He didn't know what was happening with Kurt and he still doesn't, but when he recalls how tense, cold, sweaty and unresponsive Kurt was, a shiver runs down his spine. Dave even got to thinking that Kurt had died and somehow kept on walking, and it drove him crazy because he was as desperate to make Kurt better as he was desperate to pass unnoticed. Both things were related, since they must pass unnoticed to keep Kurt safe.

It was relieving and heart-breaking when Kurt broke down once they got back to their room. Dave can only guess how frightening it was for Kurt to be in a room filled with people, because even if Kurt couldn't see that crowded place, he could sense and hear it.

And the horrible part is that they'll have to do it again, and again, who knows how many times, until the situation with the Dalton people gets resolved.

It's over for now, though. Ever since Kurt woke up several hours ago, he's been acting like what Dave believes is Kurt's normal self, and Dave has never been around a normal Kurt for so long.

It's still not _normal_, since normal people don't cling to other people constantly. But even if Kurt still needs to touch him, see him or listen to him constantly, Dave nevertheless is getting to see another side of Kurt.

"I really love Ethel Waters. I think she's my favorite of all."

They are just getting to know each other, and music seems to be a common ground between them. Kurt talks about music a lot and while Dave doesn't mind, since he loves music, it makes him sad. For Kurt mostly, because it's obvious that being secluded in his trailer, alone for so long, music has almost became Kurt's best friend.

"I saw you have some of her records."

He's currently in the bathtub, since he promised himself a long bath, and Kurt is on the other side of the curtain, sitting on the floor leaning back against the tub. Kurt is talking freely about the music he likes, and Dave pays close attention to answer in time so Kurt won't think that he has suddenly disappeared.

"I could never relate to the lyrics of _Stormy Weather_ but it's definitely the most beautiful song I've ever heard."

Dave nods, feeling a bit sad for Kurt. The song is about the hurt a woman is feeling because she has her love no more, and it's obvious that with Kurt's history, he's never been in love or even had a crush, as Santana once said.

"Yeah, it's a good song."

Dave likes this Kurt, and that makes him a bit uncomfortable, not to say a lot.

He always wondered about the Kurt all his friends talked so much about, because there is not even one single person in the circus who doesn't adore Kurt. At first Dave assumed it was just sympathy; after all, Kurt is one of them and he's very fragile. Dave himself, not knowing Kurt much, had always done his best to comfort the boy.

Their circus is a pretty tight family, but it's only reasonable that people get along better with some than with others. Tina and Mercedes are always joined to the hip; Noah and Santana spend a lot of time together and Sam, Finn and Artie always gather around to play some music.

Dave himself likes everyone in the circus, but he's grown very close to Santana and Brittany, and when he's bored, he usually goes to Artie's trailer to hang out with him.

But among their friends, everyone spends time with Kurt.

The girls seemed more fond of him, but Dave is not sure if it's because they're girls and are more fuzzy about it. But then, Kurt sews their clothing and girls love that stuff and Dave thought it could be because of that; they had that interest in common. And that thought only made him wonder what Kurt and the guys could have in common; after all, Kurt's world is very narrow, and Dave wondered a lot of times what Kurt and, say Noah, Finn or Mike could talk about while they shared meals or just hung out for hours in the boy's trailer.

Yet the guys visited Kurt almost as often as the girls did.

Dave could never understand it as an outsider. He's starting to get it now. Kurt is beyond likable. In spite of being confined to a small trailer, the boy is pretty aware of the world outside; maybe the guys buy newspapers for him. He's also very witty and even funny, and to Dave it's just pleasant to be able to talk with Kurt about things like books and music, or even the weather. It's a novelty to listen to Kurt just talk without jumping constantly in place at every little noise.

Dave has been attracted to Kurt ever since the first time he saw him because, in spite of his unavoidable weirdness (which is not Kurt's fault), the boy is indeed really gorgeous. He always tried not to think much about how beautiful Kurt is, because that leads to nowhere. It helped that the only expressions Dave ever saw in Kurt's face were fear, dizziness and despair. Kurt's eyes were either filled with tears, or dopey from drugs, or just terrified. Until today, Kurt was tragically beautiful.

But as the boy started becoming more comfortable, or maybe less conscious of their surroundings, Kurt's fear-filled eyes became just piercing blue, the frown on his forehead disappeared and he started showing a smile that takes Dave's breath away. Now Kurt is just plain beautiful. And intelligent, and incredibly charming.

And here's Dave, naked in a damn bathtub just inches away from a boy he finds more attractive with every second that passes, and there's no way to escape. Dave strictly forbids himself to grow aroused because it would be wrong on several levels. First of all, they have more important things to worry about, and second, he doesn't want to make Kurt uncomfortable; the boy is dealing with enough already.

Dave knows he can do it. After all, he has been doing a remarkable job of ignoring Kurt's attractiveness for weeks, but to be honest it didn't take much effort since they were barely together.

Now Kurt's practically glued to him.

Oh, God! Dave thinks to himself, growing exhausted at his own inner debate. The water is also getting cold, but Dave actually welcomes that.

"If there's something I always wanted to do if I was normal, it's to listen to some live music," Kurt's voice breaks his train of thought.

"I've never done that, either," Dave replies. "I mean, I've been at some bars where there were musician playing songs, but nothing like a show or a concert."

"Sebastian saw Billie Holiday several times at some clubs in New York. I was so jealous when he told me," Kurt tells him and Dave feels a little jealous of Sebastian, too. "His family is from there, you know."

The mention of Sebastian makes his stomach ache a little; he's still not sure how he feels about Sebastian joining the Dalton people. But Dave knows he shouldn't mention it to Kurt, since he doesn't want to upset the kid any more than necessary.

"Well, no singer like that ever performed in the clubs I've been at, that's for sure," Dave says. The water has gotten downright cold and he decides he can't put off ending the bath any longer. "Can you wait for me outside? I'm coming out."

"Um… sure," Kurt says and Dave hears him getting up.

"I'll be quick, I promise."

Dave practically jumps out of the tub when the door closes, and snatches the towel to dry himself quickly. He grabs his clothes and moves closer to the door, just to be able to talk to Kurt.

"Are you hungry? We still have some food left," Dave offers.

"Actually, I'm pretty tired. It's like… wow, half past eleven!"

"What?!"

The day really flew by and Dave didn't even notice.

"What time do we check out tomorrow?"

"Around ten. I don't really know where we should head though," Dave replies as he puts his pants on. "William said we should go to the East coast."

"Well, yes. You have plenty of populated cities over there. Maybe we should aim for New York?"

Dave starts sensing a glimpse of distress in Kurt's voice and he's not sure it's caused by the idea of going to New York under these conditions or because Kurt can't see him.

So having his pants on, Dave considers himself dressed enough and opens the door only to find Kurt standing right in front of him. The boy opens his mouth and then closes it again, blushing and turning around. Dave curses to himself and hurriedly pulls an undershirt over his head.

"Maybe, yes," Dave continues. "Tomorrow we'll see, alright? Now let's get some rest."

Kurt nods and moves towards his bag to take out some pajamas. It's obvious that Kurt won't get fully naked to change his clothes, but Dave turns around anyway, just like Kurt does, busing himself in packing all their stuff. They don't have much unpacked actually, but Dave doesn't want to have to take care of that tomorrow, since he'll probably have to focus on getting Kurt into the car.

"Done," Kurt speaks up, walking towards the bed and getting under the covers.

The bed they shared last night and earlier in the day: Dave's bed. Now 'their' bed. What was formerly Kurt's bed remained untouched.

Once again, Dave starts feeling a little anxious at their proximity. It's not the first time they'll share the bed, but all the other times Kurt was severely distressed and Dave didn't even have time to think about how touchy they were being, since his main concern was to comfort the kid. This will be the first time they'll sleep together when Kurt is calm and unperturbed. In addition, Kurt is much more appealing now that Dave knows him better.

Kurt doesn't seem to realize any of this, and Dave is not going to point it out, either, because there's no use. He knows that Kurt won't be able to get through the night in peace if they sleep in separate beds.

So Dave gets in the bed, doing his best not to show Kurt that this arrangement affects him in a new way. Yet as soon as Dave lies down, Kurt moves in close, wrapping his arm around him. Dave takes a deep breath; this boy is not making things easy for him. Kurt just yawns, luckily not noticing how tense Dave is now.

"It's been a long day," Kurt says with a tired voice. "I guess we'll have lots of long days."

"I guess," Dave replies, not feeling really eloquent. He's more focused on thinking about a bunch of ugly things to distract himself from the fact that he really likes how Kurt's body feels pressed against him.

"It's the second day I'm going to sleep without taking any pills," Kurt points out and that catches Dave's attention. He actually turns to look Kurt in the eye.

"Is that good?"

Kurt shrugs. "It's… different. Not bad, I guess. Falling asleep is better than passing out. It feels different; natural, if that makes any sense."

Dave actually smiles at that; he never liked the idea of Kurt taking so many drugs. He's aware that sometimes they were necessary, but Kurt seemed to depend on them almost constantly. If Dave thinks about it, Kurt has done a lot of stuff in the past two days without being under the influence of any drugs; he suspects back in the circus Kurt sniffed chloroform or popped pills under much less stressful situations than he's in now.

Maybe this running away will be good for him. Kurt is for sure someone who breaks easily, and that will probably never change, but maybe he'll learn that he's a bit stronger than he thinks.

"Good," Dave says, turning around to turn off the lights.

"Good night, David."

"Sleep well."

Kurt snuggles into him some more, and Dave takes another deep breath, forcing himself to find some sleep instead of starting to enjoy his closeness to Kurt too much.


End file.
